299 Dekan Begins Summoning the Mole
The overcast skies above the Capital City offered little light, save for the broken screens on the streets that flickered with sound and image accompanied by a ‘zzz’ noise, and the faint spark of distant warfare.
A shadow darted across the street, appearing particularly eerie under the dim light, like a venomous snake that had locked onto its target, dangerous and lethal.
He was Carlos, the Illusory Bishop, who had finally shaken off all obstacles.
By now, he was not far from the arena.
And the two eighth-rank members of the Kingdom Union, according to Carlos’ perception of distance, had no chance of catching up with him.
Just then, the Pope had already issued an order to all Bishops through his authority.
Commanding them to speed to the Philowen Arena and destroy the man-made Shadow World activation instrument!
All the Bishops also knew what had happened in the arena.
The Pope had been trapped inside the Kingdom Union’s highest achievement in magical engineering.
It was evident his situation was quite dire.
But he was almost there.
The End Bishop was also about to be set free.
Just as Carlos could see the iconic structure of Philowen City in the distance, the Philowen Arena.
Suddenly, without any warning, Carlos felt a tremor in his heart, and instantly his whole body was enveloped by a strange black mist.
This mist was actually the curse force emanating from within his own body, now strong enough to have physical substance and it covered his whole body…
Carlos, who was on the move, spat out a mouthful of blood, and abruptly collapsed to the ground, only stopping his roll after a few revolutions.
Lying on the ground, Carlos opened his eyes wide in disbelief.
Despite cleansing the curse immediately with a purification technique and activating the [Pain Block] as a precaution,
Carlos had still been struck by the surprise lethal attack.
This was not actual damage, but an intensified curse of unbearable pain!
A little while later, Carlos managed to stagger back to his feet, requiring great effort to resist collapsing again.
“The Lord of Calamity…?!”
Carlos was all too familiar with the sensation.
But the intensity of this curse far surpassed anything he had endured before—hundreds, even thousands of times stronger!
It was briefly like deliberately bumping into a wall, with bright stars before his eyes, nearly rendering him unconscious.
For a long period, the Lord of Calamity had singled him out, casting a curse daily at the most ‘opportune’ moment.
Already dealing with various challenges from managing the church under the Pope and the pressure from Krey, the Lord of Calamity’s persistent attacks drove Carlos to isolate himself.
Fortunately, Carlos possessed immense mental strength, allowing him to endure and purify the curses relatively easily.
Not long ago, he thought he had finally escaped the Lord of Calamity’s torment.
But this—wasn’t the Lord of Calamity defeated?
And a curse of this magnitude would surely demand a toll from the caster! Why would he assist the Kingdom Union?
Hold on.
Was the one who defeated the Lord of Calamity… Dekan?
And is the current Philowen Capital defense commander also Dekan?
Could it possibly be that… everything was his orchestrated scheme?!
In an instant, Carlos seemed to piece it all together.
In his experience, those who orchestrated events behind the scenes were the Pope and the Bishops.
But now, reflecting carefully, Dekan seemed more like the true puppet master behind the scenes!
Carlos had been confident that this plan was foolproof, and today would surely be the collapse of the Kingdom Union.
But now, a sense of unease crept into his thoughts.
The Pope wasn’t so simple.
He was an unfathomable… being.
The more time Carlos spent with the Pope, the more convinced he was of the secrets the Pope harbored.
Even if Shien, with the power of the Phantom Canyon seal, could force the Pope to play his final card.
That moment would undeniably be the time of the Kingdom Union’s total annihilation!
Not long after, the two eighth-rank pursuers of the Kingdom finally caught up with him.
When they saw Carlos, his face pale and his once immaculate clothes now covered in dust,
although unsure of what had just occurred,
this chance was not one to be missed!
One of the King’s eighth-rank assassins wielded a silver short sword radiating with the aura of death and advanced, clearly planning to kill Carlos when given the chance!
Though dazed by Dekan’s sudden long-distance assault, Carlos was alive and well, and he quickly regained his spirit.
Upon recognizing the enemy’s intent to close in,
Carlos acted out of a surge of rage, trapping the assassin in the [Void Hallucination] realm, utilizing magic to crush him.
“You’re very unlucky, I’m not in a good mood right now!”
Focusing on the other foe with a sinister expression, Carlos lifted his finger, brimming with murderous intent, and began to channel another spell.
The quaint streets of the Capital turned into a dazzling, perilously mesmerizing world!
…
Within the Philowen Arena.
Dekan leaned against the Man-made Shadow World activation device, a book emanating ominous energy in his hands, looking like a towering statue of life and death, a divine judge.
Compared to what Dekan had done, everyone’s gaze couldn’t help but be drawn to the mysterious black spellbook he held.
Its aura was unlike any ordinary spellbook, as though it were an unnatural object of this world, documenting forbidden truths unsuitable for human understanding!
When Dekan activated it, the book pages flipped rapidly amidst a violent windswept force.
Subsequently, an overwhelming surge of strange mist erupted from the pages, nearly swallowing Dekan whole.
Once the black mist dispersed,
Dekan’s form gradually became clearer.
His body wavered like a feather.
“Huff… Huff…”
Dekan felt his vision blur. If not for leaning against the immense magical device behind him, he would surely have fallen.
His condition was likely far worse than Carlos’.
But to knock down Carlos from afar, this was Dekan’s all-out effort.
Dekan had never experimented with maximum-level curses.
That one move almost drained all his mana, and the backlash nearly knocked him unconscious.
If not for his Master taking over his body temporarily and sharing the backlash, Dekan may have lost consciousness.
“Tarlomati, I’m sorry…”
Dekan guiltily said to his Master, whose magical power had become abnormally weak.
Already in a state of residual soul, sharing the backlash would likely take her a long time to recover.
“The rest, I cannot assist you further… take care of yourself…”
With her faint heart signal, she seemed to drift into a deep sleep in the next instant.
“The imminent danger has been briefly resolved, and the next step is to seek reinforcements.”
From the city defense central unit wristband, it was known that the Illusory Bishop Carlos had been successfully caught up by the Kingdom Union pursuit team.
No matter what, at least that side could hold them off for a little longer.
The concern rested on the End Bishop side.
Even without the ace Nightmare Bishop Alina and the Holy Knight Commander Aljeer, they were no match for the End Bishop.
Unless another Bishop could help them intercept the End Bishop!
Dekan, leaning on the [Bachelor’s Despair Sword], pale-faced, found it slightly challenging even to stand.
The version difference was indeed excessive.
This was the first time Dekan felt powerless.
Yet, his comrades were reliable.
Whether it was the cunning merchant who always unexpectedly let him down or the new acquaintance, the black-powder astrologer, they all performed to their limits in critical moments.
And they fully trusted Dekan, facing life and death together.
In response, Dekan would also wholeheartedly reciprocate their trust.
If the Rebirth Church wanted a decisive battle, they would be ready to see it through to the end!
“You think this kind of endurance would work?!”
Adair was still mocking Dekan, trying to rock his confidence, given his apparent weakened state.
Adair might not know what Dekan had done,
but he could roughly guess.
Carlos had been affected by the eerie black book used by Dekan.
Dekan had indeed fulfilled his claim during the initial task distribution when he stated that he could handle the threat Carlos posed.
However, his actions were merely a desperate attempt to patch things up in a sinking ship,
only serving to slow down the speed of collapse.
From what was observed, a Bishop would probably arrive before Shien defeated the Pope in the Phantom Canyon.
Dekan, weary, silenced Adair with a [Silence Spell].
He no longer wanted to hear Adair’s childish rants.
Adair’s yelling immediately turned into a choked, dissatisfied sound.
Facing the [Nightmare Puppet] that replicated the abilities of the Nightmare Bishop,
Adair dared not use [Purification] on such a trivial, non-combat-related debuff state as [Silence].
Yet it was this [Silence] that made Adair feel completely dominated by a ridiculous authority!
A permission so petty governed him!
Morian snickered slightly, muttering a scolding phrase “Empire idiot” inaudibly,
mocking Adair for attempting to mess with Dekan’s mind.
Adair’s face flushed red again, humiliated and unable to retaliate.
How frustrating it was to see a relentless dodger he could never land a hit on!
Adair composed himself quickly, focusing on the fight at hand.
He couldn’t believe that Dekan, now nearly at his wit’s end, could still overturn the situation.
Not far away,
Dekan, propped against the Man-made Shadow World activation device, appeared particularly exhausted.
Silently, he pulled out his Bishop’s Certificate of Suffering.
Looking at the stamp he had tried so hard to conceal, he finally gave a faint smile.
He never imagined there would come a day when he could take it out in front of everyone.
Next, it was time to execute the crucial move to truly reverse the situation.
Not long ago,
when the Pope sealed all permissions on Dekan’s Bishop’s Certificate, it almost turned into useless scrap.
Dekan could neither participate in the assembly nor initiate private chats with other Bishops.
But,
the Pope could only seal the ordinary permissions of a Bishop.
High-level permissions like [Bishop Duel] were unaffected!
Dekan concentrated his magical power and consciousness on his [Bishop’s Certificate of Suffering].
Now, he intended to initiate a supreme ritual outside of the regular [Bishop Duel] known as [Bishop Vote]!
It was different from usual meetings.
The [Bishop Vote] was an assembly of all Bishops used to impeach the Pope!
The voting lasted ten minutes, calculating the results once all votes were cast or the time elapsed.
If during this special Bishop assembly, the votes in favor of impeachment exceeded those against, one could directly remove the Pope from power.
A new Pope could then be elected.
The opportunity to initiate such a mandatory meeting was exceedingly rare!
Each Bishop could only use it once in a lifetime.
Of course, anyone daring to initiate such a vote, if they failed, would normally be immediately executed by the Pope.
“Who initiated the Bishop Vote?”
“Dekan? What’s your plan?”
“It’s pointless. To impeach the Pope, you’d need to kill more Bishops first, assuming you’re even capable.”
As soon as the meeting started,
a series of mocking and questioning thoughts from the Bishops arrived.
Dekan merely conveyed his intent:
“Informant! Help me intercept the End Bishop. Reveal your code, and I will immediately remove the block on you!”
The purpose behind Dekan’s activation of [Bishop Vote] was not to oust the Pope.
It was to establish a secret signal with the Kingdom Union’s highest-ranking mole through this mandatory meeting!
Now, Dekan could only hope “Unicorn” would respond promptly!
“Chuckles, trying to outwit us by sowing discord?”
“Unfortunately, it’s too late. The big mole, the Nightmare Bishop always making money, has already revealed himself. Do you actually think there’s someone among the Bishops willing to help you?’
All Bishops could sense and convey thoughts, but none cast their votes.
Apparently, the battle situation was too intense for them to manage touching their Bishop Certificates and casting votes.
“Who exactly is it! Respond to me!”
After a minute without a response, Dekan became increasingly anxious.
Though confirming a vote required focusing and holding the [Bishop Certificate],
in such a mandatory meeting, conveying thoughts merely required a slight mental nudge!
The informant must have received Dekan’s messages.
If they revealed the “Unicorn” code and matched the signal, Dekan would immediately remove the defenses set by the eighth-rank against this Bishop!
Then this Bishop would support the Holy Knight Commander and the Nightmare Bishop against the End Bishop.
While the originally blocked eighth-rank would deal with the Illusory Bishop.
The situation would open up!
But,
in the Bishop assembly, apart from mocking Dekan, no one responded with the three-letter code he expected!
As if there was no “Unicorn” in the meeting at all!
Dekan anxiously gripped the Bishop Certificate, unwilling to believe the reality.
What’s going on?!
Shien wouldn’t lie to him!
This informant was one of Shien’s greatest guarantees!
And those other Bishops should all have been present in this meeting!
…Hold on.
Cold sweat started to form on Dekan’s forehead.
He suddenly remembered someone who had lost contact…
“Shit… can’t be serious…”
