Chapter 562: Don't Join the Cult If You Aren't Born Lucky
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Although Hao Ren was curious about the process of the "soul trial", he did not dare to look at the scene in order to protect his heart. Instead, he went to Becky's house to see the elves off and received some information about the Cult of Origination. The interrogation process was just over when he and the others returned to Helcrown.
With Ophra leading the way, they went straight to the cathedral and met the pope and several bishops in a simple but very spacious room. The pope looked slightly tired. Today's assassination was still a shock for him, but after all, with the support of divine power, he recovered quickly. And both Y'zaks and Y'lisabet stood in the room. It seemed that 'work' was completed.
When Y'lisabet saw Hao Ren, she immediately jumped to greet him excitedly. "Uncle Ren! It's done! The Rune of Affliction is very useful!"
Hao Ren patted little girl's exquisite little horns. After a period of getting along, he knew that the little demon liked them to fondle her little horns, which meant intimacy—and then he looked Y'zaks and asked, "Wang, is it really ok to let your daughter learn these?"
Y'zaks also agreed and nodded. "It's a bit late to learn Soul Extraction and Rune of Affliction at this age. But after all, the child's bloodline was not pure, so she was supposed to learn demon spells later than her peers."
"… That's not what I meant. Forget it. Did you get the answer?"
"The monster is an 'Abomination'. The Cult of Origination made it using 'divine power'. This is similar to necromancy, but what it's created are living things that are not afraid of various sacred forces, so I suspect that the Cult of Origination really mastered some of the knowledge related to the divine power, but they use it in the evil ways."
Y'zaks sat on the wide-back chair as he spoke. "Also, the Cult of Origination didn't know the real situation of the banquet held at the palace today. From the outset, the people of the Disciples of Glory have been keeping the secrets of the Firstborn and us, and have sent false information to some suspicious people, so the Cult of Origination mistakenly thought that today's imperial feast was just an ordinary noble banquet. Their assassination plans have been planned for more than two months, and have even infiltrated a portion of the royal guard and the higher order monks. They chose to do it today because the King and the Pope were here, and some of the soldiers on duty in the palace were under their control. More importantly, they got some sort of 'divine weapon'— that is, the scroll. But they had bad luck. They didn't expect the banquet was actually hosted to entertain a bunch of alien supermen and so their plan has failed because of us."
When Lily heard this, she thought she played a big part in it. She wagged her tail happily and said, "So I'm very powerful right!"
"Yes yes yes you're the best," Hao Ren said and pressed Lily's head to stop her from jumping.
Before Lily could say anything, Vivian asked, "You are taking advantage of the mealtime right?"
Ophra looked unusually serious and asked, "They have infiltrated into the Royal Guard and the higher order monks? How did they do this?"
"Because they are good at controlling the mind," answered Y'zaks. "They got many evil spells from an evil god. These heretics were very patient. They didn't wait to be killed while all of you were closing in on them.
"The evil god should be the Voice of the Master." Hao Ren immediately recalled the information he had just learned today. "And then? Did you dig out the list of people they've infiltrated into from that monster's soul?"
A white robe cardinal shook his head and said, "No list, that monster is just an assassin, he doesn't know anything too detailed. And even if we have a list, it's useless. After the assassination, we went after the guards on duty but found that many of the guards had disappeared. We found the bodies of some guards near the outer wall of the palace. From their posture, we could see that it's suicide, but it's possible that they're forced to commit suicide under mental control, and other missing soldiers should have the same fate. These heretics have the power to control the human minds, which makes every action so watertight that almost none of their men can be caught alive or leak the secret – except this time. We have successfully tortured the soul of the heretic during interrogation."
Hao Ren touched his chin and said, "So it means... all the people they've infiltrated into are dead?"
The pope sighed and replied, "Yes."
Lily suddenly interrupted, "But how do you know the rest of the guards are not controlled by the heretics?"
Hao Ren did not get it and said, "Didn't all the guards that were under mind control had already run away?"
"They let some of the abandoned ones go out and grab your attention and pretend that everyone has been evacuated after the incident, so that we don't suspect the rest of the guards and just roughly check them," Lily said, then shook her head and continued, "but God knows how many of the rest of the guards are still under their control."
Vivian immediately looked at the husky with surprise. "Oh well, doggie, I didn't expect that you're quite smart."
Lily hugged her arms as she continued to wag her tail, and said, "Of course. After all, I'm a writer. And you know what the spies did when the country was in a mess? I knew it! I tell you…"
Hao Ren hurriedly pressed Lily's mouth. "Don't talk about irrelevant things… Don't bite my hand!"
"In short, all soldiers and church monks will be investigated," Ophra said while she put her hand on the hilt, "and the current situation is not as good as we thought. But fortunately, the problem has been exposed. Otherwise, I'm afraid it will develop into a disaster."
"Have you found the lair of the heretics?" Hao Ren asked while looking at Y'zaks.
"They have fled," Y'zaks shrugged and said, "and they are mentally connected."
Vivian immediately asked, "What about the scroll? Where did the scroll come from? Who sent them? What was it originally for? "
"This is interesting," Y'zaks laughed and said, "In the soul memory of the Abominations, the scroll came from 'somewhere far, far away', a 'great' creature brought from the goddess to the Cult of Origination. They call that great creature the voice of what?"
Hao Ren reminded, "The Voice of the Master."
Y'zaks patted his big bald head and said, "Oh yes, the Voice of the Master. I've mentioned that it's certainly not the Campus Radio… You know that, too?"
"Looks like it's about the same as I guess," Hao Ren laughed and said, "A giant brain has come to this planet, and it has the ability to bring things from its place. But it must not be easy, so the Cult of Origination has only got a scroll so far, and what they can do is summon the giant brain."
He then looked at the pope and Ophra and said, "I'm quite straightforward – Can you handle this yourself?"
"This is our duty." The pope nodded and said, "Let us deal with it."
"Then I have to leave now." Hao Ren said and stood up, "I had to deal with something more troublesome than those heretics – the two steel wire balls that were dug out of your planet."
After leaving the cathedral, they would go to Tannagost via the teleportation portal in the basement of Becky's house. The whole basement smelled like wine: The elves accidentally knocked down a little wine rack. Becky looked at the wine cellar sadly and said, "I have to let them dig another wine cellar. It's too unreliable to put my precious wine in the exit."
"Remember to pay attention to the situation here," Hao Ren reminded Becky before leaving. "You are now a noble, can directly participate in a lot of things. If there is any progress on the investigation of the heretics, please let me know immediately. Also, Big Beardy will stay here, you two can take care of each other, safety first, if you're no match for them, just run..."
Becky nodded repeatedly and said, "Don't worry, I'm good at it."
Hao Ren was silent.