351 Building an Army, Building a City Part 1 (1/2)
The youth looked at his teacher doubtfully. Indeed, Guise was one of Fycro's most important subordinates, but this matter was not so serious that it required the oracle himself, was it?
Even though the nucleus of the Holy See was set in the Glorious City, there were hundreds of thousands of believers in the Oracle City a few hundred miles away who would chant Fycro's name during their prayers. According to the code, this was an honor which was bestowed by the god upon the first oracle. However, none of the oracles before Fycro had been able to accept such an honor with peace of mind.
No one was sure whether the believers left out the Lord of Glory's title during their prayers or not. However, everyone knew that Fycro was the one who had changed the situation within the Holy See.
For the first time, the number of churches and believers under the oracles' command had come close to that of the pivotal council. And it was during this period that the inquisition had managed to break free from the pivotal council's oppression.
To the believers, a word from the oracle was equivalent to a holy decree.
The pivotal council could no longer control all the believers. At the same time, the inquisition began to believe that darkness was also god's will as long as all evil could be exterminated from this world.
Fycro, a person second only to Pope Theisio, was actually going to be personally involved in Guise's affairs! A look of scornfulness appeared on the youth's face because he felt that Guise was merely a white bishop.
”Aidan, you must be modest in order to stand a chance at becoming the seventh oracle. Genesis died a long time ago, yet no holy decrees were disseminated. This will be a good opportunity for you,” Fycro said in an indifferent tone.
The eyebrows of this youth named Aidan arched up, then he lowered his head and did not rebut his teacher. He knew that his teacher was a very prideful person, even though the Lord of Glory had descended personally and bestowed the virtue of modesty upon his teacher.
Fycro's words made Aidan excited. Aidan had lowered his head in order to conceal his own emotions. Genesis had infiltrated the Qin Empire and died at the hands of an unknown mage. As a result, the seat belonging to the fifth oracle was empty. If this had happened in the past, holy masters from the pivotal council would have been eyeing that position. However, with Fycro around, everyone else would need to listen to him.
Without a holy decree being issued by the Lord of Glory, the pivotal council did not dare to make a move. Consequently, the position of the fifth oracle was filled by the sixth, while the position of the sixth oracle was filled by the seventh. Hence, at this moment, the seat of the seventh oracle was empty.
The seventh oracle possessed the virtue of generosity. Aidan did not feel that he was very generous. But, even his teacher had been able to become the first oracle and receive protection from god, so what else was impossible? With his teacher's support, the white bishops could only watch him ascend to the position of the seventh oracle.
God was in charge of heaven, but the Myers Mainland belonged to the saints.
Back at the Chaotic Swamp, the three kings had cleaned the place up after their outburst of rage. They used their brute strength to destroy the last mineral vein. Among the remnants of the mineral vein, Saleen obtained several pieces of green spirit by accident.
After discovering the green spirit, Saleen could not contain his jubilance and began laughing out loud. He and Aini felt that it was heaven's will. These pieces of green spirit were of unmatched value and could be used to seal a large number of summoned creatures. Originally, Saleen had only one piece of green spirit left, so he was still fretting over how to store the three kings. He could not possibly have Diyabannersa and Banchajanna stay in Daniel's death flames, could he?
If that really happened, Saleen would never feel at ease.
The three kings could not vent all their anger, so when they returned to the surface, they went to kill all the black puppets. The black mages had escaped long ago. They had not even engaged in battle with Saleen's army. Now that Guise was dead, Fycro would never let the black mages off. At this moment, the black mages just wanted to rush to the heart of the Myers Mainland – the Purgatory Desert.
They wanted to beg for forgiveness from the dark sky devil. It would be much easier than begging to Fycro.
In the heat of all that rage, the three kings did not discover the special characteristics of the poly spirit beasts. After countless black puppets, armored puppets, headless riders, and other creatures produced from black magic were massacred, more than thirty poly spirit beasts had been formed. These poly spirit beasts did not continue the offensive. Instead, they retreated silently, as though they had received some sort of command.
”Let's go!” Saleen walked out of the teleportation portal in high spirits. Even though he had not obtained anything left from the Second Dynasty, he had managed to reap quite a large number of gems from that ruined mineral vein. Furthermore, he now had the three kings under his thumb. Saleen was already feeling quite satisfied.
Now that three kings had been subdued, small trouble would not pose a threat to his city anymore, as long as the Holy See did not deploy a large number of troops. Unfortunately, the power of the three kings had been reduced. His and Aini's grades were still too low, thus limiting the kings' abilities.
Thousands of spirits were herded back the death dimension by the three kings. This time around, the pirates did not lose many men, and at the end of the battle, sixty-two pirates remained. Since the size of the team had shrunk by half, Saleen decided to be cautious on the journey back. There were many hardly detectable crevices in the Chaotic Swamp. Furthermore, it was winter, and the thick layer of snow caused the ground to become a natural trap. The route which Saleen selected was very safe. It had been paved by Nailisi when she was escaping in the past.
Riding on the backs of their bone horses, the team did not really take any breaks. In less than three days, the team passed through the forests at the edge of the Chaotic Swamp and made their away out of Deep Forest Town. Saleen did not waste much time at this town which he already owned, while the pirates only enjoyed a restful sleep. The second day, the team immediately continued on their journey and rushed back to the city base.
The team made their journey on horseback. In winter, the Phoenix Duchy appeared bleak and lifeless. Along the way, all the doors were tightly shut and there were no business convoys around. Saleen did not want to startle the nobles, so he decided to spend the night in the wilderness. Traveling at such a speed, his team entered the northern wilderness very quickly.