Book 8, Chapter 69

Celestial

The pope who seemed to be an unimposing old man looked Martin in the eye, “I didn’t think you would have come to this point.”

“It would have come to this sooner or later, wouldn’t it?” Martin sighed.

The pope sighed as well, “Perhaps. I tried my best to avoid a situation like this, but it seems like I have failed. When I personally handed you the Book of Fate, I was hoping you could take over my responsibilities one day.”

Ruford’s expression turned a little awkward, but anger appeared on Martin’s face, “Oh, really? That damned book was given to me out of goodwill, was it? If not for the fact that I could look through destiny and see your intentions, wouldn’t I have met with its disaster?”

Richard’s heart stirred as he heard this. The Book of Fate they were talking about had currently become a number of pages in the Book of Destruction currently hanging on his waist. From what Martin said, it seemed like anyone holding it would meet with inevitable disaster. In that case, the divine child had no good intentions when giving him the book either.

“I gave you the book exactly because you can see through destiny. Only you could find its final owner, freeing the Church from millennia of controlling it with our power. You have already found its owner, have you not?” The pope’s gaze fell on Richard for a moment before turning back to Martin, “Come back to me. I’m old and tired; as long as you return, I will pass on the mantle and make you the next pope.”

Ruford immediately shook and yelled, “How can that be, Your Holiness? You must be cautious!”

The pope lifted his left hand, gesturing for silence. The hand was dry and yellowing, covered in spots of all shades, but the magic ring on the index finger was clearly visible for all to see. The gesture itself was simple, but Ruford shivered and didn’t dare to speak again.

The silence was only broken a few minutes later when a surprised Martin started laughing bitterly, “I would want that as well… Although the Lord hasn’t answered our prayers in the longest time, I still don’t plan to turn my back on the oath I took. However, I cannot accept this; Your Holiness, I know you’re trying to intercept the faith in the Lord and replace him.”

Martin’s words were like a bomb exploding in everyone’s ears. The pope wanted to become a deity and replaced the Radiant Lord? If true, this was a secret that could shock all of Norland.

Richard stared with disbelief as well, but he quickly realised something else. It didn’t matter whether Martin was lying or not, there would inevitably be a battle today. This situation had spiralled far out of his control; he had only wanted to defeat Thomas and his army, but now he was facing the entire Church of Glory!

Ruford was the first to react, shouting loudly, “Martin, how dare you insult His Holiness! Angels, capture the heretic!”

Four mysterious people behind Ruford immediately took off their robes, glaring divine light illuminating their bodies as unique sets of armour formed around them. Each set was majestic and instantly recognisable to anyone who worshipped the Radiant Lord: Uriel, Raphael, Gabriel, and Remy.

Seeing the angels appear, the morale of the soldiers below was greatly boosted. Some cheered loudly while others started muttering prayers; to the faithful, this was a divine miracle.

The four angels flew towards Saint Martin. As the weapons of the Radiant Lord, they could suppress his worshippers. Some of the people behind Martin immediately grew fearful; the radiant glow surrounding them wasn’t just for show, it burnt and slowed anyone in contact with it. Every angel could affect everything within a hundred metres, making them especially powerful in wars. While Richard had fought an angel himself before, that had been one-on-one so this divine glow hadn’t been employed.

“Midren,” Martin sighed. Three warriors behind him immediately took off their own robes, divine light flickering on their own bodies as full sets of armour and pale crimson wings covered them. The paladins below gasped in surprise as they recognised the signature of the King of Angels.

Midren had a very high position amongst the celestials. While they were outnumbered three to four, Martin’s followers actually took the upper hand and took up three-fifths of the skies with their red light before they reached a stalemate! Although he had expected this, Martin still heaved a sigh of relief.

Thankfully, Richard always exceeded expectations when it came to his runes. These rune sets were perhaps even stronger than Saint Peter’s peak, a fact that caused some regret. If only there were two more Midrens, the situation would be entirely different. Unfortunately, Martin only had three apostles capable of activating this armour set; he couldn’t use any more.

Seeing the three angels, Ruford’s eyes went wide open in shock. He pointed at Martin and yelled, “How dare you do this?! Midren was actually in your hands all along!”

However, the pope remained calm and smiled warmly, “Martin, you disappoint me. Do you really think you can do whatever you want as a divine child? It seems like you have prepared well for today’s battle, but it isn’t enough. Lord Michael, I hope you can prove my devotion.”

Strong light surged out from the door once more as an athletic silhouette appeared in the divine light. Three large sets of wings appeared on his back, the divine light coming from them blazing hot. It was almost like a new sun had appeared in the skies!

Martin’s expression changed instantly, while a young lady with four wings appeared behind him and glared, “Michael! Are you betraying the Lord too?”

The six-winged angel remained expressionless as he flew towards the battlefield, his golden glow covering everything within a thousand metres and suppressing Midren instantly. Michael stared at the woman coldly, “I am loyal to the Radiance. The Radiance is the Lord, but the Lord might not be the Radiance. Anyone who obtains the recognition of the Radiance shall be the Radiant Lord.”

“You…” the woman was shocked speechless.

Richard frowned and blinked to Martin’s side, “This guy feels different, what’s going on?”

“There are seven different types of Heaven’s Armour. The four battle angels over there were made by Saint Peter, as was the weaker version of Midren. However, two pieces were special; the Radiant Lord condensed his divinity into two cores, having Peter craft the runes around them. Strictly speaking, these were sets made by the Lord himself, Michael and Lucifer. Only celestials can unleash the full potential of these sets, so I never expected such a thing to happen. It… seems like we’ll be losing today.”

“And what about Lucifer?”

“Unusable. Not even celestials have suited that set in the longest time.”

“Well then, it looks like we’re in for a fight.”

Martin sighed, “Sorry, I got you caught up in all this.”

“Heh, but we might not lose.”

“This joke isn’t funny!”

As the two conversed, the pope lifted his staff and pounded it into the ground. The entire sky turned dark as divine hymns rang out, an illusion of countless celestial ringing the horns of battle. A concentrated divine glow surged out from the door, covering the entire battlefield in a kingdom of light that strengthened the knights, paladins, and clergy of the Church by a level at minimum.