Release That Witch

"Ha ha ha... " Heather said, laughing, "It's unlikely for a pawn to do as exactly as he was commanded. Provided that he keeps the final purpose the same with ours, we just let him act in his own way, which means as long as they keep losing men in war, we don't care wherever his army marches to. Anyway, since Graycastle is the last kingdom to attack in our plan, there's time for them to fight each other. Didn't Roland Wimbledon refuse our pills last time? This time we could let Timothy put more pressure on the Western Region and then maybe he'll accept our pills."     

Still, Mayne was displeased that the Queen of Clearwater had turned against him openly. After all, he personally selected this pawn. If Timothy chose to station his troops and stand facing Garcia instead of marching on her after he took Graycastle, the Royal Decree on the Selection of the Crown Prince wouldn't have its intended effect. It seemed that he needed to take other actions.     

"We won't hastily make a decision about the affairs of the Western Region until we received words from our messengers," Mayne said, "That'll do for today. Please make sure everything goes as planned. I have other business in Hermes' underground castle."     

"Oh, yes," Heather said, as if something suddenly occurred to her, "Is today the day of the incarnation? How many people have applied to participate in the incarnation ceremony?"     

"It's confidential." Mayne stood up and headed out of the secret chamber without looking back.     

…     

After walking on a long, hanging stairway down to the bottom of the cave, Archbishop Mayne, crossed the white stones, which were as sleek as mirrors, heading to the depths of the underground castle.     

Unlike its usual tranquility, the office seemed quite busy today. A group of men of the Judgement Army who had passed the examination were waiting outside the office. Since most of them were here for the first time, they all looked around curiously. As soon as they saw Mayne, everyone thrust out their chests and gave the clenched-fist salute. "Lord Archbishop!"     

He smiled and nodded back. The Judgement Army was made of the elite warriors of the church, who were very loyal to God and were willing to sacrifice. Despite the fact that the incarnation of God's Punishment Army did not always succeed was known by them before they submitted their applications, they were still willing to devote their lives to this great honor.     

As the warriors watched him reverently, he passed the third hurdle and arrived at the Pivotal Secret Area, where the pope's guards were waiting. They bowed to him before pushing open the big metal door behind them.     

Mayne followed the guards into the chamber. From here, the heart of Hermes' underground castle started, and every research and discovery of the church was carried out here.     

With no torch lit in the Pivotal Secret Area, suddenly he could not see anything but the darkness. After slightly adapting to it, he noticed a narrow corridor before him. The wall and roof of the corridor were forged with iron, and both sides of the wall were adorned with fluorescent stones—this unique stone belonged to the family of God's Stone of Retaliation and could fluoresce green after it was stained with the blood of demonic beasts.     

A cage was laid at the end of the corridor. As they entered the cage, the guards pulled down the gear. The chain above them let out a crunching noise, which sounded particularly harsh in the quiet corridor. Accompanied by the sound, the cage descended slowly into a hole in the ground. Suddenly, Mayne saw the light.     

An underground space that was exceedingly spacious came into his sight.     

No matter how many times he had seen this startling scene, he always felt a sense of smallness.     

Logically, a cave buried deep in the underground should be pitch black. But that was not the case here, for the whole cave was lit by the gleam of God's Stone of Retaliation. The huge God's Stone of Retaliation looked like numerous prisms that rose from the ground, forming clusters of crystal flowers. Even the smallest prism was as thick as a human trunk, and the large one was so thick that it needed more than 10 people to get their arms around it. The heights of those prisms were uneven. The highest one could touch the roof and be even higher than the tower of heaven in the Hermes Cathedral.     

The colors of stones were various. The densest cluster of God's Stone of Retaliation revealed a color of lavender. Other clusters near it had their colors varied from dark blue to light green. The smaller ones were white, and the young prisms that just cropped up from the ground were almost transparent. The purple God's Stone of Retaliation shone most conspicuously, especially the one higher than the tower of heaven. With a brightness close to that of the full moon, this unique stone contributed most of the light, so that even without the torch in the cave, people could faintly see the ground.     

Being affected by the God's Stone of Retaliation of such density, the magic power was unable to work in the inner region of the hillside. And the stones that the church sold were also mined from here.     

The space of the cave was large enough to accommodate five or six Hermes Cathedrals, and they had indeed built a structure that was exactly the same as the Cathedral, which was named the Pivotal Secret Temple. Yet it looked much older than the church that stood on the top of the hill. Mayne, who was now in the cage that was in the air descending, could see the black, iron gate on the wall of the cave behind the temple, which led to the foot of Mount Hermes, connecting with the old Holy City. In a sense, the old building was the true body of the Hermes' underground castle, and long before the establishment of the new Holy City, it had put down roots here.     

It took almost eight minutes for the cage to land. Mayne stepped out and groomed himself before following the messengers to the temple.     

The incarnation ceremony would be held in the hall on the first floor.     

After entering the hall, the archbishop felt the light had returned to the world around him—it was no longer blue-purple, but orange, shining from thousands of candles. The light above them was from the three-layer, tower-type candle chandelier. Meanwhile, there were many candlesticks placed around the hall, casting an image of countless stars that were swaying. Thanks to the fire, the chill within the cave had now been driven away considerably.     

The man that stood between the two incarnation altars was the Supreme Leader of the church, Pope O'Brien, who was wearing a striking red robe trimmed with gold, and a golden gem crown on his head. At that time, he was concentrating on checking the apparatuses of the incarnation to make the final preparation for the ceremony.     

"Supreme Pontiff." Mayne walked over and kneeled before O'Brien, kissing his hand.     

"Rise, boy." The pope's voice was hoarse and slow. "There's no one other than the guards here. No need to pay attention to the cumbersome etiquette."     

"As you wish." Mayne stood up, and when he looked at His Holiness, he was shocked by his look. He looked much older than the last time they had met. His face was full of deep lines, and his skin looked an unhealthy white, saggy and dull. The thickly dotted speckles were particularly eye-catching. As the archbishop saw this, his eyes went wet. "You've... worked too hard."     

"Time has left its marks on me," O'Brien said calmly, "and no one can resist the passage of time. There isn't much time left for me now. I'm afraid I can't see the day when men defeat demons, nor do I have to bear the unknown pain. But you have to keep fighting until the day you eventually defeat the enemy or the other way around. And one more defeat will crush us once for all."     

Mayne nodded and said, "I'll fight to the last moment."     

"Very good." The old man smiled. "You've done very well recently. You've added more than 1,000 men to the Judgement Army for the church, and there're 62 applicants who'll participate in the incarnation ceremony this time. The number of the Judgement Army has reached the highest in its history."     

"Your Holiness, could you tell me how many men of the God's Punishment Army do we need to defeat the demons?" Mayne hesitated for a moment before he asked. "All we know about the demons are from the Holy Book, and yet the record is fragmentary. It has left out the knowledge about where they came from, their number, and how they fought. I understand that I won't learn these secrets until I become the pope, but..."     

O'Brien reached out his hand to stop him going on. "You're being impatient, boy. Be patient. It won't be long before you take over the crown and become the next pope. By then, all of your questions can be solved by the files stored on the top of the Pivotal Secret Temple. The only answer I can give you now is the more men, the better," He gasped for air and said, "Moreover, although you aren't summoned here for the incarnation ceremony, since you're here, I hope you'll try to host the incarnation and take it as an... ahem... experience for the future. I'll stand by."     

Mayne patted the pope's back to ease his cough. After the pope began to breathe more easily, he lowered his head and said, "Yes, Your Holiness."