If one had to choose a single place as the centre of the Kastela Continent, that place would undoubtedly be the Holy City of the Sacred Heart Kingdom.
The Holy City was the capital of the Sacred Heart Kingdom and also the power hub of the Church. The Red Monastery, Yellow Monastery, Green Monastery, and Blue Monastery were located in the southeast, southwest, northwest, and northeast directions of the Holy City respectively. This was the place of faith that every believer yearned for.
To embark on the path of a believer and gain the power of faith, one needed to study in a monastery. After receiving baptism, one could perceive the glory of the divine spirits and become a believer.
At the very centre where the four monasteries converged stood the most magnificent building on the continent: the Central Cathedral. No imperial capital could compare to its grandeur. No place’s beauty could match the sacred radiance it was surrounded by.
Tall spires pierced the heavens. Eternal flames burned unceasingly atop several towers. This place knew no harsh winter. All seasons were bathed in spring-like warmth. Flowers bloomed. Birds sang. Beasts harmonised. Any ferocious magical beast would lower its unyielding head here. Any evil villain would involuntarily shed tears of regret.
Beautiful white-clad nuns, almost too pretty to be real, walked with both solemnity and liveliness on the polished marble floors, like elves.
In the courtyard at the very centre of the cathedral grew a withered yet majestic giant tree, said to be a branch from the “Source of Life” World Tree. Beneath the tree was a pool known as the famous “Pool of Life”. Every drop of water within was said to be blessed holy water. Drinking a single drop could cure all illnesses. Wealthy people from all corners of the Kastela Continent were willing to bankrupt themselves to exchange for water from the pool.
Yet at this moment, several beautiful and adorable girls were bathing naked in the pool water, letting out clear cries of delight. Nun garments were placed on the stone platform beside the pool. Occasionally, believers passed by but restrained themselves from glancing, hurrying away with quickened steps.
The frolicking girls in the pool seemed oblivious, as if under divine glory, nothing they did required shame or harboured any lustful thoughts.
On the western side of the courtyard was the cathedral’s main hall, enshrining divine statues. Normally, only the Pope at the pinnacle of power could linger long in the main hall. At other times, it was mostly completely sealed. “Dead Disciples” cultivated from birth by cruel Church methods would kill any unauthorised intruder.
At this moment, on the high platform railing outside the main hall, a tall white nun stood with a slightly cold expression, watching the girls playing in the Pool of Life. Her loose white nun robes vaguely outlined her perfect figure. But the frost on her face diminished some of the allure a beautiful woman should have.
“This is a sacred place. Tixis is truly improper. Too lewd. This is wrong. It is wrong,” she muttered to herself. Yet for some reason, her face showed a strange blush. Her breathing quickened. Her eyes did not shift from the frolicking girls for a moment.
Footsteps suddenly came from behind her. “Damn it!” she cursed inwardly, blaming herself for only noticing when the sound was three metres away. She hurriedly turned, kneeling respectfully on the ground. “Your Holiness, you have finally emerged.”
“Aida, my most trusted nun sister, you’ve said this many times. You don’t need to be so formal with me. Get up quickly!” The Pope’s voice was very young. Golden hair swayed before Aida’s eyes. A pair of slender yet strong hands gently lifted her body. “Aida, you’re like my real sister.”
“Your Holiness.”
“Hm?”
“Please remove your hand from my chest!”
“Oh dear, I’m truly sorry. I swear to the divine I didn’t mean to. But Sister Aida, your bosom feels even softer than yesterday. This must be a divine blessing,” His Holiness said with an expression of utmost admiration.
His name was Boris. Ye Chui had heard this name from Resha and Eliza. In their descriptions, Boris was an elderly old man. But in reality, the golden-haired youth before her looked at most eighteen, with a face so perfect it would make any other woman pale in comparison.
He was indeed perfect.
The Church’s secret texts recorded him thus: At the moment of his birth, the glory of faith enveloped his body. With his infant cry, withered trees bloomed. Green spread around the house. Birds gathered. Ferocious wolves knelt around, howling mournfully.
He was the embodiment of faith, a gift from the divine to this world. The then-Pope personally carried him back to the Central Cathedral, secretly raising him. At ten, he became a red-robed archbishop. His innate wisdom allowed him near face-to-face communion with the divine spirits.
This youth favoured by the divine secretly succeeded as Pope at thirteen, becoming the person at the pinnacle of power in this world.
Boris. This name originally belonged to the previous Pope. But that old Pope held selfless affection for the youth, willing to erase his own existence from history. On his deathbed, he let the youth inherit his name Boris.
Aida glanced reproachfully at Boris’s face, adjusting her slightly dishevelled white nun robes. She asked, “Your Holiness, what guidance did you receive?”
Just earlier, Boris had suddenly sensed a divine summons and hurried to the cathedral to commune with the divine spirits.
“They seem troubled because of a youth,” Boris flicked his smooth golden long hair. He spoke in a tone that would make any believer envy his closeness to the divine. “So they tasked me with dealing with him.”
“A youth?” Aida was surprised. On the Kastela Continent, besides the Boris before her, what youth warranted such divine attention? She suddenly thought of someone. “That Ye Chui.”
“Yes, yes, that guy,” Boris clapped.
“Then I will set off immediately,” Aida said at once. Her voice suddenly turned icy cold, chilling enough to make one shiver.
“No, no!” Boris hurriedly reached to stop Aida. “The divine said that person is very powerful. We cannot defeat him. Aida, my dear sister, I don’t want you to risk yourself. The divine have already told me what to do. We don’t need to fight him directly.”
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“Your Holiness!” Overlapping girls’ voices suddenly came from below. The girls playing in the Pool of Life suddenly stopped. They looked up at the Pope and Aida on the high platform. Amid splashing water, they climbed out of the pool, picking up clothes to dress while walking over. “We are not those foolish ones.”
There were seven girls. Their voices overlapped strangely. But as they spoke, one girl suddenly vanished, leaving six.
“We are the embodiment of faith.” Six became five.
“We are the divine’s messengers.” Five became four.
“The divine’s will is our mission.” Four became three.
“Anyone defying the divine is our enemy.” Three became two.
“The divine pities our lives, but we should not be so.”
Two finally became one.
She was still somewhat wet. Water dripped from her hair. The white nun robes clung to her youthful body. Her appearance was flawless. But upon close inspection, one eye pupil was green, the other black. Her hair mixed black, white, and gold. Even her skin had subtle inconsistencies, as if several people had fused together.
She knelt before Boris. Her voice sincere, nearly fanatical. “Please let me go kill that Ye Chui.”
“Oh, Tixis, my dearest sister, you’re right. We should not pity our lives. Go. I give you this mission. Go kill that youth named Ye Chui. I will await your return here,” the Pope said, seemingly moved by the girl’s zeal. His voice inspired.
“Your Holiness, I will return with Ye Chui’s head,” the girl named Tixis said with a pure, shy smile. Her body flickered and suddenly vanished.
“Tixis, safe travels. I will miss you,” Boris said softly, as if bidding farewell to someone about to pass. A tear even fell from his eye. Yet his facial expression remained calm, unruffled, with a strange hidden cunning beneath his gentle exterior.
His gaze fell on Aida beside him.
“Your Holiness, do you have orders?” Aida asked respectfully at once.
“In the northern borderlands of the Star Empire, there is a small town called Stan Town. Go there. Find that town,” the Pope said.
“And then?”
“They have committed a sin against the divine. So…”
Seven days later.
A carriage sped across the Elf Grasslands. Several armoured swordsmen rode horses escorting around the carriage. The knights bore unified flower totems on their armour. They were from a mercenary group. This mission was to escort a woman to Stan Town.
The carriage curtain lifted. The worried woman looked ahead.
The woman’s husband was a merchant. Every autumn, he went to Stan Town to purchase beast pelts. Such trips had lasted over ten years. Each time, he returned in at most seven or eight days. But this time, he had been delayed half a month with no news.
Not only her husband. Other merchants who went to Stan Town had also gone silent. The day before yesterday, she hired a mercenary swordsman to check. Last night, when the swordsman returned, he was mad, unable to speak a word.
Worry drove the woman to decide to come personally. She spent over half her savings hiring a three-star mercenary group from the city. But along the way, ominous premonitions constantly surged in her heart.
The carriage suddenly stopped.
The woman asked curiously, “What’s wrong? Let’s hurry. We’ve been travelling four hours straight since leaving the station. We should be near Stan Town by now.”
“Madam,” the mercenary group leader’s voice sounded panicked.
“What happened?” The woman emerged from the carriage, looking around.
She found they were standing on a vast, unnaturally flat area. The flatness felt strange, as if sliced by a sharp knife. The woman had been to Stan Town before but had no memory of such a place. She felt puzzled. Then she noticed the swordsmen guarding her all showed extreme tension. One axe-wielding swordsman even trembled, gripping his bull-head battle axe tightly.
This mercenary group was renowned for bravery. How had they suddenly become like this?
“Where exactly is this?” the woman asked urgently.
The leader swallowed. He scanned the strange flat ground extending unknown miles around and ahead. He continued, “This is Stan Town.”
