Volume 6, Chapter 80 – Hidden Beneath the Holy Light (Part 1)

Julius stood two meters away from Evelyn. As usual, he was wearing a simple white and gold robe with no decorations. His short hair was covered by a white round cap. Due to the numerous wrinkles, his facial expression could not even be seen. The only thing that could be used to judge his mood was the pair of sharp eyes hidden behind the heavy wrinkles.

—The look of excitement was no different from a madman’s. His thin body, like a withered tree with only a layer of skin left, was also trembling.

“Ah, I knew it. If it were you, you would surely succeed. See, they are your relatives, your compatriots. Even if they have not been blessed by the Goddess, they have still become humans just like you. With just a little time, they will become the strongest and most loyal warriors of the church. Ah, what a beautiful picture, to achieve a miracle that only a god can do with a human body. It’s wonderful!”

Like a madman showing off his own invention, Julius opened his arms and looked up at the ceiling. His aged voice gradually became louder. At the same time, Julius began to look younger at a speed visible to the naked eye. In less than a minute, he had changed from an old man of about eighty to a man between fifty and sixty years old.

“Julius, what have you done!”

Using her words to attract Julius’s attention, Evelyn, while carefully retreating, reached for the magic medicine tied to her waist.

“Oh, although you being able to come here means you’ve noticed something, if I don’t say it, you will never be able to understand the full picture.” Evelyn’s sharp questioning made Julius snap out of his emotional state. He suppressed the excitement in his heart and spoke at a very fast pace. “Well then, since you’ve seen it, whether you’re willing to cooperate with me or not, I will not let you leave. This place was built for you from the beginning. Of course, if you’re willing to cooperate with me, when I defeat the Blood Clan, I will make you the real Pope. By then, my time will have come to an end, and you will have no worries.”

“The cooperation you’re talking about is for me to betray Yisi?”

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As if he hadn’t seen Evelyn’s action of drinking the potion, Julius shook his head with an expression that said everything was under his control.

“Of course not. Deceiving Yisi is just a shortcut. The moment you decided to step into the fifth level, you had no other choice. Your only task from now on is to hatch your compatriots and nurture them.”

Although she didn’t understand what the so-called hatching and nurturing meant, fighting with Julius was not a good choice. Evelyn narrowed her eyes slightly, sending out a dangerous signal. At this point, she could only try to bring up Yisi’s name.

“Yisi will not let you go.”

“Perhaps so, but that was the old me. Now I no longer need to fear her. She was able to destroy the Tower of Ymir because she used a trick. Her true strength is only a little stronger than the Dragon Emperor. Otherwise, she could have threatened me by destroying the church.”

Tsk.

It was useless after all.

From the moment Julius had decided to deceive Yisi, she should have known that he must have thought of a way to counter her. If not to defeat her, at least to put him in an invincible position.

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Like a cat toying with a mouse before killing it, Julius looked down at Evelyn with a rather patient and arrogant expression.

“Well then, do you have any questions?”

Evelyn’s eyes flickered for a moment. She slowly rolled her eyes, observing her surroundings.

The path on the fifth underground level was not narrow. Her goal was not to defeat Julius—she couldn’t do it now no matter what. Julius was different from the demons; he wouldn’t give her time to use divine-era magic—but to distract him as much as possible, and then, the moment he was distracted, to escape from the side of the passage. Julius, unlike her who had practiced warrior skills, was a pure magic caster. In terms of foot speed alone, even at level 58, he couldn’t possibly compare to her.

So next, I’ll use words to distract him while asking what I want to know…

Having prepared herself mentally, Evelyn asked in an unusually calm tone.

“The grace of the gods is your lie?”

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“Hoh, I didn’t expect you to have understood to this extent. Did you get the answer yourself, or did Yisi tell you?”

“The former.”

“Is that so,” with great interest, Julius raised an eyebrow. “Yes, just as you know, the so-called divine power is just a lie passed down by the successive Popes. The Tower of Ymir—or rather, the immense magic power contained in the Tower of Alexia—to just use it to adjust the climate is as wasteful as using a divine-tier weapon to cut vegetables.”

“Since its appearance, the successive Popes have been studying its abilities, origin, and usage. To date, no one knows where it came from, but it was already concluded in the time of the first Pope that the Tower of Alexia is just a building used to collect and release magic power. As for how to use the collected magic power, it depends entirely on the user’s thoughts.”

“Wh-What?”

In her opinion, the Tower of Alexia should only have the function of adjusting the climate and being used for the ‘reckoning’ of enemies in times of crisis.

“As long as a magic formula is inscribed, the Tower of Alexia can operate with endless magic power. Besides not having intelligence, its existence is no different from a magic caster. And the first Pope, he only inscribed in it a formula that could calm one’s mood with mental magic as long as one prayed to the Goddess. It sounds incredible, doesn’t it? But that is the function of the Tower of Alexia. To use the power of humans to close the distance with the gods. With it, one can create a miracle that only a god can bestow. So, when the Tower of Alexia was destroyed by that woman named Yisi, the prayers lost their effect.”

“This is an excellent tool to prove the existence of gods. With miracles, believers will flock to the church like ants. The successive Popes have all kept this as a secret. Of course, if you cooperate with me, this secret will also be passed down from you.”

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Although she had roughly guessed it, when she heard Julius narrate it with a straight face, her body still couldn’t help but sway.

Biting the tip of her tongue lightly, Evelyn forced herself to pull herself together. She didn’t have much faith in the church and the gods. The truth that the so-called divine power was just the magic of the Tower of Alexia was not a blow to her at all.

“…What about those demons?”

“Demons?” As if he didn’t understand what Evelyn was saying, Julius tilted his head, and then, as if he had a sudden realization, he looked up. “I see. You mean the ‘angels’. The so-called demons are just a false title I made up to cover up the truth. Their real name is angels, angels who bring the gospel, sent down by the gods.”

At this point, Julius, with an attitude that didn’t put Evelyn in his eyes at all, lifted his white and gold long robe, slowly turned around, and showed his back to her.

“Also, let me give you another surprise. Weren’t you always wondering why I’m immortal? Now I can tell you the answer.”

On Julius’s exposed back was a palm-sized, dark red marking that Evelyn had seen countless times.

It was the symbol of the Fallen.