Chapter 147: Silver Placenta
"To think that it is actually a heretic evil god that is truly in control of the bookstore on 23rd Avenue... But only the Moon is truly divine in this world. All else are but imposters dwelling in the dream realms. But according to Vanessa's account, the power of this evil god can't be overlooked and must be destroyed."
The scene was cut and the image of a bowing Vanessa disappeared from the surface of the water.
The old man in gorgeous golden robes gazed away from the holy pool and stood up with a solemn look on his face. His three-meter-long golden scepter touched the ground, making a dull thud.
Bias Rodney, current pope of the Church of the Dome, and one of the few Supreme-rank transcendent beings in Norzin!
The scepter he wielded was a symbol of his papacy, and the two golden loops adorned near the top of the scepter represented the twin saintess of dark and light.
Above the two loops, lunar ornaments, representing the seven apostles, were arranged on the loops. At the very tip where the top rings touched was the full moon.
The new moon, waxing crescent, and waxing gibbous were on the right side of the outer loop, while the waning crescent, waning gibbous, and dark moon were on the left of the inner loop.
This scepter could use all the powers of the apostles and saintesses, or rather, these powers were bestowed upon them by the pope and could be withdrawn at any time.
The elderly pope walked to the center of the church, where moonlight shone through a circular hole in the huge domed roof, illuminating the sacred artifact atop a stone platform — Silver Placenta.
According to legend, it was said to be a remnant from when the first saintess gave birth to the 'Moon'.
There were two other sacred artifacts, 'Ancient Ring' and 'Sleeping Moon Child', that were enshrined in this church. Sculptures of all former popes stood tall in niches all around, inspiring awe and solemness.
"An evil god needs to establish a faith..." Rodney muttered to himself with a twinkle in his eyes.
"That means to say, the apparent bookstore owner by the name Lin Jie is frequently in contact with the various factions with a secret agenda of cultivating followers, building strength, biding time to establish a new sect, and will attempt to steal the church's foundation by means of Holy Moon Essence.
"At the same time, this means that the evil good isn't strong enough yet, so it doesn't dare reveal its true identity and must remain hidden, lest it gets discovered and slain in the cradle.
"Unfortunately, he never imagined Vincent's holy emblem would become his downfall..."
Rodney smiled and reached out to gently caress the 'Silver Placenta' enshrined on the stone platform. "The effect has already solidified on the first batch of Holy Moon Essence users and they will become the Moon's most fervent of believers... even death won't faze them.
"Just wait a little longer, just a bit more and we can start attempting. You will soon be able to descend from the dream realm without fear of the ugly gazes of people in this world."
The pope's gaze was kind yet fervent, as if the strangely-shaped 'Silver Placenta' was his own child.
The placental object wiggled ever so slightly.
As if it was a truly living organism...
Suddenly, Rodney's brows creased as he hurriedly turned towards the side and saw a faint white light in the distance through the rose-stained church windows.
With a sense of foreboding, Rodney squinted and saw that this ray of light came from the extreme end of the horizon. And at the very center of it was an especially brilliant spot of light, shining like the morning sun.
But it was clearly the middle of the night!
"That direction... That's the direction of the Seventh Parish. What happened to Vanessa?"
Rodney had just spoken when he heard what seemed like the sound of metal melting.
Pshh…
Rodney turned to his scepter and saw the lowest lunar ornament inner left ring, which represented the Dark Moon, had started to melt on its own!
The metal turned into a golden liquid that fell, drop by drop. But even before these droplets hit the ground, they seemed to evaporate into nothingness from the high temperature!
In the blink of an eye, the Dark Moon ornament had disappeared!
"How?!"
Rodney’s expression turned ugly. This lunar ornament wasn’t more than symbolic. It was a true power crystal.
Even if Vanessa died, the power should return and not disappear.
This current situation didn’t just represent Vanessa’s death but it also meant that that the other side’s power was several times higher and had thoroughly annihilated the Dark Moon Apostle’s power right to the core!
Rodney pressed his hand to the gash on the scepter and immediately retracted from the heat.
Glancing at his own trembling hand, Rodney realized that the intense heat was just superficial. What was burning… was the Moon’s divine power!
“Your Holiness, the Seventh Parish has been attacked. A massive explosion suspected to have been caused by Vincent rocked the church. 233 members of the clergy including Vanessa have been confirmed to have perished. All the other parishes have been informed and Vincent’s status has been raised to the highest wanted level.”
A beautiful lady in white nun robes silently appeared at the corner of the chapel and bowed to Rodney.
She was none other than Sheryl, one of the two saintesses.
Rodney took a deep breath, staring at the wound on his palm. “That means that Vincent has escaped, right?”
Sheryl lowered her head even more. “Yes.”
Rodney’s gaze was stern but his smile was still kind. “I remember that he was a good child and on great terms with the priest that baptized him.
“Oh right, I remember that old priest. Doesn’t he live at the Seventh Parish’s Chapel of Charity? Get Waning Crescent pay him a visit to express our sympathies.”
The Sixth Apostle, Waning Crescent Buck, was in charge of inquisition and possessed the ability ‘Heresy Trial’.
If Vincent didn’t choose to seek out the old priest in his panic, then the old priest would be used as a threat. And if Vincent did seek him out, then he would just be an easy target.
Sheryl nodded and backed away into the shadows.
——
“Huff… Huff… Finally… Made it…”
Vincent staggered, gasping for breath as he banged against the door and slid down, leaving a trail of blood.
He was currently in a miserable state, with blackened wounds covering his entire face and body. His eyes were bloody and his tattered priest robes were soaked with blood.
The power of Sun Scripture hadn’t just leveled the entire Seventh Parish. It had also burned out all of the Moon’s divine power within his body and expelled it, modifying his body in a way that Vincent couldn’t understand either.
But one thing was certain. Before he could find out the results, he would first have to endure the intense pain of his entire body being torn apart.
After fleeing the Seventh Parish Church, he knew that the church’s first reaction would be to blockade all areas, then put out a warrant for his arrest.
He was seriously hurt at the moment and had no way of escaping to the bookstore, for it was too far away.
He had nowhere to go… Except for one other place.
Vincent looked up at the wooden signboard above the door that said ‘Chapel of Charity’. This was a small church of the Church of the Dome located in a slum, with only one old priest and two clergymen. It was a small place with few people.
This was where he was baptized when he joined the Church of the Dome.
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