In a sense, the Reflection Church is not only the place where successive popes are handed over, but also a museum itself.
The busts of church leaders displayed inside alone are of great historical significance, not to mention the magic stone seals that can review major historical events through holographic images.
If it were to be opened to the public as a tourist attraction in the future, tickets would definitely sell like hotcakes.
But now, it will take Roland some effort to get in—although the Reflection Church is located underground in the old Holy City Church and is arranged entirely in a mirrored manner, the two are not connected. The stone slabs and clay separating them are more than ten meters thick, and they are sparsely filled with God's Punishment Stones, making it a very troublesome task whether to excavate by manpower or directly traverse with the Magic Ark.
After inquiring about the details from Isabella, he decided to enter from the underground passage of the monastery.
After all, these passages used to be unobstructed, but although they were artificially destroyed and blocked later, it was not a big problem for the Magic Ark. More importantly, the abandoned passages are not affected by the God's Stone. Compared to the Secret Chamber, which is entirely shrouded in the influence of the God's Stone vein, the former is naturally much safer and more reliable.
In addition, in order to avoid getting lost, he also had Sylvie scan it in advance to determine the best route for this sightseeing trip.
Due to these preparations, the witches also learned the news. On the day of departure, Roland found a crowd gathered outside the tent, with the little girl Lightning being the most excited.
“Your Majesty, how can you not call me for such an important adventure!” she pouted, as if she had suffered a great grievance, "Am I not your chief explorer!"
"Goo goo goo! Adventure goo!" Maggie chimed in.
"Uh... this is just a sightseeing tour, the Pope's place of succession, there is no danger at all."
"Then I want to go too... is that okay?" the little girl asked, fluttering her big watery eyes.
He simply couldn't refuse.
With the first one, there would naturally be followers.
"Your Majesty, take me," Hummingbird whispered, "I can help you carry your luggage."
"As a member of the Mystery Society, how can I miss such a crucial moment, don't you think so, Your Majesty?" The speaker was Agatha.
"I want to go wherever Anna goes!" The clear voice came from Nana Wawa.
"What if this underground building contains plague infected bodies? Didn't you say that places with poor air circulation are most likely to breed diseases?" Lily said seriously.
"If it's the Starfall Queen, I would also like to see her again..." Not only witches, even "Seventy-Six" Phyllis joined in.
"Wait, isn't she your enemy from Taquila?" Roland asked curiously.
"But she is also a respectable leader—if it weren't for Akalys, we wouldn't have made it to the point where the divergence appeared."
...In the end, almost everyone managed to hitch a ride on this trip to the Reflection Church.
Originally, Roland only planned to bring Anna, Nightingale, Sylvie, and Isabella, but now, due to the significant increase in participants, Maggie had to transport them back and forth several times to bring everyone into the abandoned tunnel.
Although these intricate tunnels have been closed for a long time, they still maintain their integrity. There were no signs of water seepage or plant root erosion, and it was very smooth to walk through, except for the excessive dust.
After walking for about a quarter of an hour, the group successfully arrived at the lower area of the Reflection Church. Then, under Isabella's guidance, the tour group soon arrived in front of a magnificent hall—it was not magnificent because of how spacious it was, but because its dome was almost invisible at a glance. On each side of the gate stood a row of thick stone pillars, equally straight and tall, hidden in the darkness.
In other words, its height was much greater than its width.
Roland walked into the hall and immediately felt a strong sense of crampedness, as if he was walking on a cliff. Although the walls on both sides were illuminated by glowing magic stones, the faint yellow light was only enough to illuminate a very small area at the bottom.
"This is the prayer room, the portraits of successive popes are hung on the walls of the hall." Isabella explained as she walked, "On the day of the handover, Oberlain brought Meyn here, but the Archbishop did not expect that, in addition to him, Oberlain also brought another person."
"That person was Jie Luo." Roland said in a deep voice.
"Yes, in theory, the Pure Ones are absolutely not allowed to set foot in this place. The witches who inject magic power into the seals are selected from the Converters, and once they have seen those illusions, they will soon be used for the transformation ceremony of the God's Punishment Army." Isabella nodded, "From the moment Jie Luo came here, she became one of the Pope candidates."
"What a disgusting practice," Nightingale said angrily, not knowing whether she was talking about the transformation ceremony or Jie Luo.
Isabella tactfully shut her mouth.
When they reached the end of the hall, a full-body portrait occupying the entire wall appeared in front of everyone. Unlike the dim passages, the frame was surrounded by glowing stones, and the soft light vividly presented every detail of the painting.
Although Roland had heard Agatha and others mention the appearance of the Witch Queen many times, he still felt an unspeakable emotion rising in his heart when he actually saw the portrait.
Akalys rested her hands on her sword, her eyes looking straight ahead, as if staring at an unknown future, but also as if she was sizing him up.
Any words to describe her appearance seemed somewhat inadequate. Softness and perseverance, ice and fire, seemed to be perfectly integrated into her body. It was hard to forget her once you had seen her. If it was only because her facial features were outstanding, it would not have surprised him so much. In Akalys, the aura of a leader was overwhelming, almost tangible—as if she was a natural God's chosen one, and as long as you followed her, you could usher in inevitable victory.
"What a beautiful woman," Anna exclaimed, "It's a good thing she's not around anymore."
Hey, what do you mean by the second half of the sentence? Roland gently patted her head. Even if Akalys was still alive, would he be so infatuated with her?
But looking at Nightingale beside him, he decided not to say this.
He was sure he had a clear conscience, but what if... what if that guy gave him a judgment of "untrue" or "half-true"? That would be impossible to explain.
After the group admired the beauty of the Starfall Queen, they walked into the illusion room hidden behind the giant painting.
"There are a total of nine magic stone seals stored here. I haven't seen all of them, and some seem to have been passed down from even older times." Isabella placed her hand on a magic stone, "If you want to see them, I will activate each one."
"Then let's begin," Roland nodded.
The surroundings instantly turned pitch black.
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