https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-514-Cardinal-Lanchi-s-Leisurely-Days/12584721/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-516-Talia-and-Huberian-s-Confession/12584726/
Chapter 515: The Countdown to Lanchi and Talia's Mutual Destruction
Chapter 515: The Countdown to Lanchi and Talia's Mutual Destruction
In the western part of the southern continent lay a gigantic kingdom, known as the Kingdom of Canberra, renowned for its formidable overall national strength and longstanding neutrality among the myriad kingdoms of the southern lands.
Housing the headquarters of both the Southern Continent Shadow World Management Association and the Card Maker Association, the Kingdom of Canberra boasted a scale that far surpassed that of the eastern coastal powerhouse, the Kingdom of Hutton.
In the southern reaches of the kingdom stood its capital, a city adorned with the majestic grandeur of the United Congressional Hall, its towering architecture seemingly challenging the very heavens.
The ceiling of the hall soared high, intricately carved with openwork patterns that allowed sunlight to filter through, casting countless golden threads that wove a spellbinding tapestry across the space. Mosaic artworks adorned the walls, depicting the glorious history of the United Kingdom Parliament.
In the highest tower, a secluded space fortified with barriers and metal gates housed a round table where several figures sat, their faces etched with solemnity, focus, and even tension.
Among them were permanent members of the United Parliament, as well as representatives from various associations, churches, and societies.
"We must unravel his schemes and gather any scrap of intelligence about him," one of them spoke, the weight of their words hanging heavy in the air. "Regardless, the Cardinal from the Northern Continent has brought true unrest. The Hutton Kingdom to the south of his location has suffered a direct attack from the Resurrection Church. It's hard to believe that there is no connection between the Cardinal and this assault."
Nods of agreement rippling around the table, the eyes of the gathered individuals exchanged silent messages, each gauging the stance and thoughts of the others.
At the heart of the table lay a starry chessboard, an ancient divine artifact capable of resonating with the long-inherited Papal Authority of the Resurrection Church while also pinpointing the approximate locations of all Cardinal Bishops.
More than that, it was a stargazing magical artifact. Once every year or so, when the stars gathered their energy, it could perform a divination without the need for an astrologer.
Although the divination results would only manifest as vague sand paintings on the stardust, it could still provide some degree of intelligence when all else failed.
Its predictions about the "future" might not always be accurate, and divinations about the "present" could be obscured, but it excelled at revealing the "past," as long as the time gap wasn't too vast, lest the precision diminish.
Additionally, the more complex the question, the hazier the divination outcome.
On this day, the core members of the United Kingdom Parliament had decided to employ the chessboard's divinatory powers to probe into the information about the new Cardinal Bishop from the Northern Continent.
The terror attack of the previous day had finally convinced them of the grave threat posed by this new Cardinal.
After much deliberation, they had settled on a divination direction—
They wanted to witness the most crucial moment for the new Cardinal Bishop over the past few days.
Perhaps it would unveil the truth behind the assault on the southern reaches of the Hutton Kingdom!
"Let's commence the divination. If there are no objections, we shall proceed with this attempt."
"None here."
The chorus of responses filled the room.
Under the guidance of the Speaker, the stardust on the starry chessboard swirled and flowed, casting a luminous halo that reflected in the mirror-like surface. The irises of all the core members glowed a pure white, as if they were enveloped by the very power of the stars, vying to be the first to behold the truth.
Gradually, the pale blue stardust coalesced, forming a vague sand painting.
The assembly members rose to their feet, their brows furrowed as they peered intently at the center of the round table.
"What... is this?"
"Huh?"
On the sand painting projected by the starry chessboard, there seemed to be three individuals, entwined like strands of a rope in a braid, their faces and actions indiscernible.
"What exactly are they doing?"
One of the viewers blushed, seemingly embarrassed by the notion that the new Cardinal Bishop might be engaged in some shameful act.
The Speaker hastily cleared his throat twice, diffusing the extremely awkward atmosphere that had descended upon the chamber.
"Regardless, let's first make a copy of this stardust sand painting and release it as an artistic painting to a select few media channels of the United Kingdom Parliament," he suggested, his expression grave as he regarded the scene before them. "If there are any informants, please contact us promptly. To avoid causing panic, let's refrain from disclosing that this painting is related to the new Cardinal Bishop for now."
The lines of the stardust painting revealed that the figure at the bottom was male, while the one on top and the one sandwiched in the middle were both slender females.
The parliament members slowly nodded their heads, agreeing with the Speaker's suggestion.
"The new Cardinal Bishop must be someone with very chaotic relationships."
Regardless, they had come to that conclusion.
"We may also need to send professionals to investigate the Hutton Kingdom. With just the clues from this painting, it's unlikely that we'll be able to find the identity of the Cardinal Bishop."
The Speaker's tone was resolute, concealing none of his determination to apprehend the Cardinal Bishop.
Originally, with five bishops in the Southern Continent and five in the Northern Continent, there had been a balance.
But half a year ago, after the battle between the Bishop of Destruction and the Bishop of Dimensions, the latter had disappeared from the Southern Continent for a period before reappearing recently. Moreover, the emergence of an unidentified Cardinal Bishop from the Northern Continent had further disrupted the balance.
Currently, there were six bishops in the Southern Continent.
Coupled with the movements of the Kreise Empire, the pressure on the United Parliament of the Southern Continent Kingdoms was immense.
"I'll go."
At that moment, a figure clad in light golden heavy armor sitting in one corner of the round table raised their hand.
During the High Priest examination of the Church of the Goddess of Fate in the high-dimensional observation space, the Grand Paladin had been deeply worried about his dear friend, Loren's mental state. He had sensed that Loren wasn't in a good state and had a constant foreboding feeling about him.
True to his worries, Loren had indeed faced a fierce battle the day before.
Due to the extremely long distance between the Kingdom of Canberra and the Kingdom of Hutton, with Canberra located in the western part of the Southern Continent and Hutton at its easternmost edge, ultra-long-distance magic communication between the two kingdoms required relay through several other countries' stations, making it challenging to maintain regular contact.
And now, with an opportunity to personally travel to the Kingdom of Hutton to check on Loren, the journey would be even more arduous, and it would be difficult to obtain a long vacation. Fortunately, there was now an official business trip to the Kingdom of Hutton that he could undertake.
"..."
The Speaker stared blankly at the Grand Paladin of the Church of the Goddess of Fate, surprised by his firm acceptance of such a dangerous task.
"Then I'll have to trouble you."
The Speaker solemnly entrusted the task to the Grand Paladin.
"Mhm."
The Grand Paladin silently clenched his fist.
My dear friend, I'm coming.
...
At the same time.
In the Kingdom of Hutton, within the capital city of Icariot.
Currently, it wasn't a peak dining hour at the Cat Boss Restaurant, and there were only a few customers.
Planir stood leisurely behind the bar, polishing glass cups.
Suddenly.
He covered one eye with his hand, as if his head was throbbing in pain.
"Brother, what's wrong?"
Sinora quickly walked over and handed him a glass of water, concern etched on her face.
She felt that her brother's face had turned a bit pale, as if he had seen something terrifying.
However, they had just returned from South Van Tina that morning, escorting the dangerous rotting alchemy beast from there, and Planir had exerted the most effort. It was only natural that he would feel tired now that they were back in the capital, pretending that nothing had happened the day before and resuming their normal work.
"Intermittent clairvoyance, I can't control this magic that's still in its infancy yet."
Planir gently took the glass of water, shook his head, and used a magic voice transmission that only Sinora could hear to assure her that he was fine.
Subsequently, Planir deliberately glanced at Athanasius.
Thankfully.
Athanasius hadn't noticed him.
In fact, his clairvoyance seemed to have interfered with a divination spell cast somewhere unknown, allowing him to witness a scene that might alter the world line node.
However.
He actually saw—
The King, Hyberrian, and Talia, their three figures entangled on the ground! Planir doubted his own clairvoyance for a moment.
He was still breaking out in cold sweats.
No one must know that he knew about this.
Otherwise, he wouldn't survive even with ten thousand lives!
Planir vowed to take this secret to his grave.
Planir secretly resolved.
"Phew..."
He then breathed a sigh of relief and continued to tend to the restaurant, preparing for the midday rush.
Fortunately, Talia couldn't read minds.
According to his understanding of ancient demon tribe books, the demon tribe's innate mind-reading ability might, during evolution, act uncontrollably and vocalize the thoughts that were read. It was similar to his unfinished clairvoyance, which sometimes triggered intermittently with slight side effects.
Otherwise, if an accident occurred, aside from whether he, Planir, could survive, the King might truly end up dying together with Talia.
PS: Promoting a friend's book~
(End of Chapter)
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