Chapter 1 Mid-May

The Krytian Empire, a giant nation on the southern edge of the Southern Continent, its capital, Brielda.

No matter how warm and bright the city-state appeared in this season, no one realized that deep underground, an ancient city was slowly awakening.

If fate permitted, one could traverse the long and dark road, directly reaching the black palace at its deepest point.

Inside the palace, a figure walked, leaving rhythmic footsteps on the carpet.

He wore a dark green scholar's robe, a top hat, and his hair and beard were neatly trimmed. He looked gentle and refined, as if he had never experienced battle.

The dim light of the lamp in his hand cast deep shadows on him and his surroundings.

Finally, he arrived at the black iron door of the council chamber and pushed it open.

The magnificent council chamber was dimly lit, candlelight replacing lamps along the edges. The towering roof seemed to touch the sky, and a banquet table dozens of meters long dominated the end of the carpet. Each high-backed chair on either side resembled a throne, with a gemstone totem engraved at the top corresponding to its occupant.

Looking around, only two figures sat in the seventh and eighth high-backed chairs, waiting.

They both looked at the newcomer—

"Farmer, the Bishop of Rot."

Marquis Heritier, in the seventh high-backed chair, spoke in her cold voice.

"I have completed your commission."

The man in the dark green robe opened his briefcase and gently placed a sealed test tube on the table.

Even this simple action put the two vampire marquises on alert. It was a sign that they would act if Farmer showed even the slightest hint of dangerous behavior.

The motionless test tube contained a terrifying alchemical creature. If Farmer were to shatter it in the palace, the palace would likely suffer considerable damage.

After a moment.

Marquis Heritier gently raised her hand, took the test tube, and nodded.

"We will fulfill our promise soon. At that time, lead the Rot Branch to become an official member of the Krytian Empire."

Marquis Somerset, a robust figure in the eighth high-backed chair opposite Marquis Heritier, said to Farmer with a hint of arrogance and madness.

"Heh heh, I look forward to it."

Bishop Farmer of Rot stood at one end of the long table, facing Marquis Heritier and Marquis Somerset, his laughter calm and powerful.

In the current Krytian Empire, besides the ninth-tier vampire duke and the eighth-tier vampire marquises, two cardinals from the Rebirth Church had also allied with them.

Most of the empire's generals were also under their control. Soon, they could begin clearing internal obstacles and accelerating the infiltration plan.

"But was it really necessary for you to go to such lengths to kill Micahya's daughter? Even with an eighth-tier protecting her, she is now certain to die."

Bishop Farmer of Rot asked with interest.

Previously, the vampires had even commissioned their Rebirth Church to take action, but unfortunately, both Bishop Ivanos of Destruction's people and Bishop Farmer of Rot's people had failed.

In the past six months, Duchess Hyperion, the thorn in the vampires' side, had disappeared without a trace.

This had forced the vampires, who had been hiding behind the scenes, to personally take action at great cost, all to kill that weak girl.

"The more we fail to kill that mixed-blood demon, the less that eighth-tier demon will panic. Her evolution speed is a bit ridiculous. If she continues to hide in the Krytian Empire to cultivate, she might be ninth-tier the next time she attacks us."

Marquis Somerset sighed.

Ever since they captured Duke Micahya, that silver-haired demoness had never stopped, torturing every vampire she caught to death and even interrogating them about the location of their underground palace.

However, as long as she felt intense hatred, no matter how she grew, she would never be a match for Duke Rashaal, the Blood Clan's current highest combat power and Third Progenitor.

Duke Rashaal's authority, [Blood Mind Control], was at the apex of mental magic and illusion magic. The heavier the enemy's negative emotions, the easier it was for Duke Rashaal to find a weakness in their mind, complete mental control, and force brainwashing.

However, the threat of the silver-haired demoness was not the main purpose of killing Duchess Hyperion.

The true meaning of Duchess Hyperion's death was to break Duke Micahya's mental defenses.

Only in this way could Micahya be reduced to a vampire's slave and hand over all her original magic.

Duke Micahya's dark magic was too useful to the vampires.

It could even become a shield for vampires during the day.

If they could also find Marquis Bernhard, the Ninth Progenitor, they could have him absorb Micahya to maximize Micahya's benefits.

"Oh? Is she stronger than me?"

Bishop Farmer asked, suddenly interested.

"No. But who knows when she next appears."

Heritier, listening to Farmer's seemingly humble but extremely confident question, answered.

The cardinals of the Rebirth Church were indeed incredibly powerful humans, or rather, Heritier had never seen human forces so strong in any era.

If it weren't for their vampires' immortality, they probably wouldn't be willing to easily provoke the mysterious organization of the Rebirth Church.

"So strong?"

Bishop Farmer nodded, the interest in his eyes growing stronger, as if he wanted to find an opportunity to capture this gifted demon and bring her into his laboratory.

Farmer put away his briefcase, put on his top hat with one hand, and prepared to turn and leave, when he heard Marquis Heritier's voice again.

"By the way, has there been any change in your Rebirth Church recently?"

"You're asking me?"

Farmer smiled and pointed to himself, asking.

A vampire astrologer was actually asking him for information.

"..."

Marquis Heritier didn't want to repeat herself. Her eyes told Farmer that she wasn't joking.

The prophets on the Northern Continent had already begun to interfere with her.

Moreover, the information from both places was delayed and difficult to verify, which had recently been causing unexplained effects on her observations.

Understanding as much information about the current world as possible could also help her actively calibrate her next observation.

"On the Northern Continent, it seems there was a change of bishops."

Farmer pondered for a moment and replied.

"Who won?"

Heritier never cared about the losers; she only cared about who the winner was.

"..."

Bishop Farmer shook his head.

According to the hazy divine-era script, they could only roughly read its meaning, but they didn't know what its true form was.

...

At the same time, on the Northern Continent, the Protos Empire.

Herlomm's brightly lit skyscrapers, ancient churches, and other-dimensional floating roads coexisted. The night sky was not only dark blue but also occasionally displayed golden fireflies, like a mirror reflecting the city.

In the private museum on the top floor of a high-rise building in the city center, Sigrid leaned quietly against a chair, looking out the window.

"Bishop, I'll go back first."

Gloria, standing at the door, bowed and asked for instructions.

After a long while.

"Oh, okay."

Sigrid replied absentmindedly.

"..."

Gloria, hearing the bishop's listless response, originally intended to say something, but quietly closed the door and took her leave.

Every day was indeed very busy. As the bishop's administrative secretary, Gloria was also becoming very busy every day.

For them, being busy was actually a good thing, which meant that the Protos Empire needed them, and the Heavenly Tyrant Branch and the Protos Empire were becoming increasingly inseparable.

Now, not only was their reputation among the people of the Protos Empire improving day by day, but many supporters of Loki McCarthy were also willing to invest their enthusiasm in their Heavenly Tyrant Branch. More importantly, the Great Sage Isis had chosen to trust Heavenly Tyrant Bishop Sigrid as a comrade.

Even in the battle to pursue Duke Morodian, Isis had already seen through the identities of Sigrid's three demon summons, and after receiving Sigrid's confession, Isis was willing to help Sigrid release the three direct subordinates who had replaced their identities in Herlomm Prison.

However, Gloria knew that the bishop was not tired because of work.

In the museum.

After Gloria closed the door, Sigrid still sat in the empty museum, quietly watching the night sky.

She didn't know how long she had been spacing out like this.

"Oh right, his Saint's Proof is still with me."

Sigrid seemed to remember something.

She had been too busy these past few days to remember that when she was in Lanchi in the Northern Snowfield Province, in order to use the unique [Saint's Proof - Silent Extinction] to disguise as the Silent Extinction Saint to pass through the blockade of the Box Mountain Province station, he had temporarily returned his [Saint's Proof - Heavenly Tyrant] to her for safekeeping, merging it back into her Bishop's Proof.

Sigrid hesitated for a while and took out her [Bishop's Proof - Heavenly Tyrant].

She usually didn't take out her Bishop's Proof.

Now that she was alone, she thought of someone and wanted to see the items he had left with her.

She still remembered that when she first met him, this Bishop's Proof had slightly surprised him.

"Eh?"

Sigrid looked at the silver moon crown shining with orange light in her hand and made a puzzled sound.

Logically, according to the rules of the Deathmatch Arena, if she defeated Silent Extinction Bishop Ascasan, her Bishop's Proof would be upgraded to a Bishop's Proof with dual voting rights.

Now, her silver moon crown-shaped bishop's seal had somehow become a sun-and-moon-shining appearance.

Clearly, the [Rebirth Proof - Heavenly Tyrant] of her subordinates hadn't changed, so why had only her [Bishop's Proof - Heavenly Tyrant] changed?

Then Sigrid gently snapped it, and found that the new seal was split into two seals.

"Wow, no!"

She hurriedly and flusteredly put the seals in her left and right hands together, and the seal returned to its original state.

"Phew—"

Sigrid breathed a sigh of relief.

She was so scared just now that she thought she was too strong and had broken the Bishop's Proof.

Looking closely, she found that the two seals were like keys that could be combined together or separated into two different seals.

So Sigrid separated the seals again and looked at her left and right hands.

In addition to her original silver moon crown, the other one looked like a radiant solar corona.

[Bishop's Proof - Mad Love]

[Category: Equipment Card]

[Grade: Orange Epic]

[Tier: 0]

[Effect: Proof of identity for the Mad Love Bishop, also usable by the Heavenly Tyrant Bishop. Can create Mad Love Branch Rebirth Proofs of all levels, generate special attack and deterrence attributes against holders of low-level Rebirth Proofs, can locate the approximate location of clergy from the same branch, can identify the authenticity of Rebirth Proofs displayed by other branches. Can open the Bishop's Council Chamber, Deathmatch Arena, Bishop's Vote Ritual.]

[Note: Holder is Sigrid Novia.]

"What is the Mad Love Bishop?"

Sigrid looked puzzled at the radiant solar corona and then realized that she couldn't find Lanchi's [Saint's Proof - Heavenly Tyrant] at all.

She gradually became a little dazed.

"No way, doesn't that mean he has also become a cardinal like me?"

Sigrid put down the two seals in her hand in a trance and muttered.

It seemed that because in that Deathmatch Arena, she and the Saint were judged to have defeated Ascasan together, it ultimately led to her Bishop's Proof becoming such a thing!

Originally, the Deathmatch Arena, a duel between bishops, was an absolutely conflicting situation with the normal route of killing a bishop to advance, but it seemed that because of her and the Saint's operation, it became an unprecedented erroneous judgment for the Bishop's Proof!

She frowned and thought.

Lanchi didn't have a Bishop's Proof on him now, but he was indeed a bishop.

The Southern Continent Kingdom Union Council had a special ancient relic that could detect the approximate movements of the Rebirth Church cardinals, which was also why they could guard against the cardinals for a long time.

But if Lanchi became the new cardinal, he wouldn't even know it himself.

The people of the Southern Continent would find that a super fierce bishop had run to the Kingdom of Hitton to live, riding on the face of the Kingdom Union Council.

Then the Rebirth Church and the Church of the Goddess of Fate would rack their brains and still not understand who this cardinal was!

But there shouldn't be any major problems.

Unless the peaceful and stable Southern Continent suddenly went to war, and then Lanchi ran around everywhere, it might happen that all the countries wouldn't know why a cardinal suddenly infiltrated their rear, unable to calculate the combat power, messing up the plans of all the forces.

"Uh, find a chance to go to the Southern Continent and return the Bishop's Proof to him."

Although she could also use it, she felt that since it was a pair, it would be better for each of them to take one.

Before that, the Protos Empire in the Northern Continent still needed her. At least, she had to wait until the alliance with the Kingdom of Asertylan was successfully concluded before she could possibly leave.

Going to the Southern Continent and back would take at least two months, and the Protos Empire couldn't let her leave for so long now.

But... a year was too long. If she could go to the Southern Continent to see him in the middle, it would be acceptable.

She felt that the days weren't so hard after all.

Sigrid held up the two seals and looked through its light at the colorful museum, becoming happier and happier, and a sweet smile appeared on the corner of her mouth.

(End of chapter)