335 Church of Dawn

"Brother, is that really you?" Yvonne's eyes turned misty as soon as the young man appeared in the door. After all, hadn't she suffered all the shocks and dangers along the journey just to bring her brother home?

The pair of siblings had just escaped death, and had many things to tell each other after reuniting. As they talked about their experiences, their voices became teary. Unfortunately, Lin Li had been used to acting indifferent, and this emotional scene looked terribly whiny to him. Hence, he waved his hand in annoyance. "Alright, alright, save this for when you're back and pack your things. We should leave this damn place first…"

"…" The young lady could not help turning red after being chided by Lin Li, and wiped her tears before tugging her brother's hand to stand up, planning on waiting till all of them had left Syer Town.

"Who are you, how dare you speak to my sister like that?" The young man pulled his hand away unexpectedly and glared at Lin Li. Paired with his disheveled blond hair, he somewhat resembled an angry lion cub. "Right, you must be an Adventurer my sister hired to save me? Since when have the Adventurers in Roland City become so unprofessional? How dare you speak to your employer in this manner! Let me tell you, you'd better apologize to her right now, or you'll regret this attitude when we return to Roland City!"

"…" Everyone suddenly took a breath in sharply at the young man's words as they looked at him as though he had just sprouted wings…

Almost everyone was wondering if this rascal really did not know better. Damn it, is he courting death?

"Brother, that's enough…" The young lady became anxious now. Even if she was any dumber, she would realize what kind of a figure this guy who was supposedly a coward really was. He killed the Humerus Wyrm and destroyed the Humerus Domain, as well as wiped out an entire army of Undead creatures in a flash. Such a guy would be rare in the whole of Breezy Plains, much less Roland City.

What scared Yvonne the most was that this guy was unusually petty…

Yvonne had seen it for herself outside the Bell Tower earlier—he turned against his companions so easily, and heavily injured the Bandit in one move. If not for Jason and Sienna's immediately repenting, he would have killed the Bandit. If he did that to the people who have accompanied him along the way, what would he do to her brother?

"Sister, don't stop me! This guy is so rude to his employer, how can you tolerate that? Did he threaten you with something? Don't be afraid, I'll have father deal with him when we return!"

"Shut up, I told you to stop!" Yvonne was terrified, hearing her brother rattle on.

The room fell silent suddenly as everyone lowered their heads and dissociated themselves from the unfolding scene—except Yvonne, who was scared out of her wits. They would be crazy to go trifle with Mage Felic now; they might get dragged into this too…

The young lady stared wide-eyed at Lin Li with fear and pleading eyes. Time seemed to pass by very slowly. Yvonne did not know how much time had passed before the scary mage suddenly smiled. She then let out a long breath of relief because she clearly heard him say, "Sienna, get your men to prepare to return to Roland City and try to find the bodies of those who have died. I'm sure they won't like this creepy place…"

"Yes, Mage Felic."

When the sun rose to the highest point, a dozen carriages were beginning their journey out of the ruins of Syer Town.

Almost at the same time, something big happened in the Ledin Kingdom.

The City of Dawn, Delano, was home to the grandest church in the whole of the Ledin Kingdom as well as Anril—Church of Dawn—and owed it its moniker. The person helming it was none other than the Pope of the Brilliance Shrine, Rosario.

Legend had it that he was the incarnation of the Holy Light. He became the pope at only 30 years old, and spread the gospel throughout the whole of Anril within a century. Even the stubborn magical kingdom of Felan had built a dozen churches of varying sizes. This was a great achievement that none of the previous popes had been capable of. Thus, to the followers of the Brilliance Shrine, Rosario was the embodiment of the Holy Light itself—especially in the holy kingdom of Ledin, where Rosario's words were akin to the will of the Holy Light. The king was nothing compared to him as everything in the royal household of the Ledin Kingdom had to be discussed with the pope before a decision could be made.

Moreover, none of the kings in the Ledin Kingdom found anything wrong with it as this was the case ever since the Dark Ages ended over a 1,300 years ago. If not for the protection of the Brilliance Shrine, the Ledin Kingdom would have fallen prey to their ferocious neighbors 800 years ago already. How would they have been able to enjoy their status as one of the four strongest kingdoms of Anril today?

The Church of Dawn was especially quiet today. There were 40 Paladins, 12 Cardinals, seven Head Referees and two Archbishops present in the meeting room. They were headed by the pope.

Rosario, who looked to be about 50 years of age, and had rosy cheeks and a warm smile, was the picture of an amiable old man. On his left and right sat the two Archbishops of the Brilliance Shrine. They were just beneath him in terms of authority. Lin Li was actually familiar with one of them—it was the Archbishop Englos, who was well-versed in Pharmaceutics…

For some reason, though, tension was high in the meeting room as everybody held their breaths and looked at Rosario silently. Their expressions of horror would have been mistaken for those of people awaiting an impending attack by the Darkness Shrine if it had been 700 years ago.

Of course, nobody would think that now.

The Darkness Shrine had been crippled 700 years ago, and did not have the means to challenge the Brilliance Shrine today. Now, their only association with each other was the fact that their names had contrasting meanings, "darkness" and "brilliance"…

The Darkness Shrine had once been their archnemesis, but today, it was nothing to the Brilliance Shrine. Rosario had turned a blind eye to the friendship between Englos and Sendros, which meant that the Brilliance Shrine did not hold the Darkness Shrine in high regard at all. The truth was that it was indeed the case—just look at the people sitting in the meeting room…

The 40 Paladins and 12 Cardinals were powerful individuals who were near the Legendary-realm. The seven Head Referees and two Archbishops had surpassed the Legendary-realm long ago. As for the living legend, the Pope Rosario himself, he surpassed the Legendary-realm at 30 years old, and never fought anybody for the century to come. Perhaps even his most trusted Archbishops did not know what he was truly capable of…

At a glance, there were 10 individuals who'd surpassed the Legendary-realm in this meeting room, so how powerful would they be? Even in the whole of Anril, perhaps only the Supreme Council could go against them. As for the Darkness Shrine…. well, let the past stay in the past…

"Your Holiness, is what you said true?" The Cardinal who broke the silence was a man in his forties. He had mustache on both sides of his mouth, the favored look of a Ledin man. It seemed he was a true blue Ledin.

"You're right, Anko."

"That's… that's impossible!" The Cardinal's voice rose half a pitch as he stood up abruptly before realizing that everyone was looking at him. It only occurred to him then that he had been disrespectful to the pope, and he hurried to explain himself. "Uh… Your Holiness, I don't mean to doubt your words, it's just… it's just too unbelievable that… that the Son of the Holy Light would descend so suddenly."

"Have a seat, Anko, I understand what you mean…" Rosario looked at the youngest Cardinal without a hint of annoyance in his eyes, only a warm smile on his face. "Well, it isn't just you, even I find this too… too unbelievable indeed…"

"Then—"

"Let me finish, Anko."

"Yes, Your Holiness."

"Everyone here is a devoted follower. I believe you have sensed that there was an explosion of a strong Divine Power southeast of the Ledin Kingdom yesterday at midnight. This morning, I went to study the Book of Dawn about what's written on the Son of the Holy Light, and it coincides with the Divine Power from last night: strong and pure, just like the Holy Light itself…"

The meeting room with dozens of people fell unusually silent; everyone hung over his every word as they were afraid of missing out any detail.

Rosario's gaze swept across all their faces before he let out a tired smile. "Actually, when all of you were on your way to the Church of Dawn, I had already performed the Great Prophecy thrice…"

"What!?" After Rosario said that, everyone including the Cardinal and the two Archbishops as well as the seven Head Referees reacted even though they had remained silent so far. Englos was the most emotional of them all—the dignified Archbishop who was also a Legendary individual suddenly stood up, worry and anxiety written all over his wrinkled face. His actions were no longer poised, and he resembled a restless young man. "Your Holiness, you said… you said that you have performed the Great Prophecy thrice?"