Eight Great Churches

To be honest, if it weren't for having to consider Rhine's feelings, Luo Qi would have preferred to sleep on the floor under Obedience of Heavenly Voice; his main strength was his steadiness.

Fortunately, the place Contract Land arranged accommodation for them was not far from the Obedience of Heavenly Voice. They could see the towering pillar that reached into the clouds just by opening the window of their room, which slightly alleviated Luo Qi's unease and dissatisfaction. He thought to himself that he could finally get a good night's sleep.

Before he could even lie down, the Contract Land sent another message, inviting him to a brief meeting.

Luo Qi naturally didn't want to go, but he had no way to refuse, so he could only leave with a belly full of annoyance.

But despite his departure, Luo Qi couldn't stop complaining. He directly asked the Guardian who had come to guide him, "Why does this meeting have to be held now? Can't we just hold a general assembly?"

"The formal gathering will be the day after tomorrow," the Guardian replied. "This meeting is just to allow the representatives of each religion to meet each other and at least become familiar with each other."

Who are they?

"Apart from Senluo and Xingyi who is on his way, the representatives of the other churches are all here."

Luo Qi narrowed his eyes slightly.

Aside from the no-longer-existent Senluo (Wildfire), is the only one excluded the Star Relic? Star Relic will arrive soon, but the Contract Land didn't wait for them. Instead, they held a meeting directly. Luo Qi could guess most of the content of this meeting.

Tsk, the Contract Land's reaction is really quick. Was it that Ring Finger who made the move?

Yes, Luo Qi had already guessed that Ring Finger came from the Contract Land.

But who exactly is she? Could she be watching from the side right now?

Thinking of this, Luo Qi immediately looked around warily, trying to find the mysterious Ring Finger among those unfamiliar faces... Of course, it would be a miracle if he could find her, and this also brought Luo Qi a great sense of unease, as if he was being secretly watched, and his heart, which had been at ease before, was in suspense again.

Damn it, is it just his imagination? Why does he feel like everyone else is in the shadows while he's the only one in the light?

What bad luck!

Luo Qi's mood worsened.

Just then, the Guardian led Luo Qi to a large tent, stopped, and gestured for Luo Qi to enter. "It's right here. You can go in directly."

Luo Qi nodded, but did not go in directly. Instead, he tidied his appearance slightly, trying his best to show the majesty of "the next Pope of the Rhine" before lifting the curtain and entering.

Then he saw a huge round table, with several figures sitting around it, some distance apart from each other. After hearing the sound of the curtain being lifted, they all turned their gazes toward Luo Qi.

Luo Qi frowned slightly, about to continue displaying the majesty of "the next Pope of the Rhine," when he suddenly smelled a foul stench, and his expression changed drastically.

"Hi! Bishop Luo Qi, over here!" A familiar voice rang out. Luo Qi looked up and saw Fenris, the Chief of Eternal Nightmare, greeting him with a beaming smile, as if they were old friends who hadn't seen each other in a long time, even though they had only parted ways the night before. "I've been waiting for you for ages!"

Damn it! It really was this guy!

Luo Qi's carefully constructed air of authority crumbled instantly amidst the stench.

Can't those idiots in the Contract Land smell the stench emanating from this cultist?! Couldn't they have chosen a slightly more well-ventilated place for the meeting?! Is this stuffy place trying to suffocate him?!

While cursing inwardly, Luo Qi refused Fenris's invitation with a sullen face and sat in the seat furthest away from Fenris.

Then he realized that the taste was even stronger.

The stench wasn't coming from Fenris, but from right next to him!

Luo Qi turned his head sharply and saw a sinister-looking figure sitting next to him, wrapped in dirty rags. He couldn't see the face clearly, only a stubble-covered chin was visible. The figure was smiling sinisterly at him, "Good afternoon, Bishop Luo Qi, right?"

As he spoke, he reached out his hand to Luo Qi, and Luo Qi saw that his hand was covered in pustules, with grayish-white worms wriggling in the rotting blood vessels.

With a "whoosh," Rocky, Luo Qi had just sat down, immediately stood up and ran to Fenris's side to sit down, his movements remarkably swift and seamless.

There was no way around it; compared to that guy's stench, Fenris's own smell was child's play.

In comparison, if Fenris's smell was like rotting food, then that guy was rotting shit!

Seeing that Luo Qi had finally leaned against him, Fenris revealed a knowing smile, "As expected, Mr. Luo Qi, you can't stand those guys either."

Who is he?

"The underworld".

Luo Qi frowned.

The Underworld, one of the four major Esoteric Sect?

Luo Qi was naturally aware of this church, but their existence was somewhat like that of the Star Remnants within the orthodox Church, located on another border of the continent, and also the type that remained detached from worldly affairs. Therefore, this was the first time Luo Qi had ever met any of their people.

"If I remember correctly..." Luo Qi looked at the other person, "These guys are advocating..."

"Embrace death, embark on the path to the underworld," Fenris said. "That's their doctrine."

Luo Qi sensed a strong disdain and disgust in Fenris's words, which surprised him. After all, Fenris usually seemed half-asleep and rarely showed such direct emotion.

"You hate him?" Luo Qi asked. "Aren't your doctrines similar to theirs?"

In an instant, Fenris went berserk like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. "How is this possible? How could we be the same as them?! We admire dreams, we pursue the immersion in eternal sleep, unlike these guys!"

Then, Fenris and Luo Qi explained in detail.

The Underworld is a group of dead people who, due to the power of the Lord of the Netherworld, remain in the human world and become "living dead" who are close to immortality. The Eternal Nightmare, on the other hand, is a "dream chaser" who has broken away from reality and embraced dreams.

Although Luo Qi felt that Fenris's description of him as a "dream chaser" was somewhat shameless, he had to admit that the description was indeed very straightforward.

Until the Netherworld Envoy on the other side chuckled and said, "Mr. Fenris has some misunderstandings about us. We are not as bad as you think."

They actually overheard?

The two turned their heads and saw that the Netherworld Envoy was "looking" at them, and that gaze made Luo Qi feel very uncomfortable.

"The term 'living dead' is merely a misconception you hold about us through the eyes of the living," the Netherworld Envoy said calmly. "We have our own kingdom, our own homeland, the Underworld. There, we don't need to rely on our bodies; our souls are everything. We are not tormented by illness, nor do we worry about our lifespan. In the embrace of the great and benevolent Lord of the Netherworld, we are immortal... and a blissful immortality. In this respect, we are actually quite similar to you, aren't we, messenger of eternal nightmares?"

"Who the hell is like you foreigners?!" Fenris said viciously. "We don't just throw away our bodies like you do. Our brains are our most valuable part!"

"Ah, yes." The Netherworld Envoy nodded slightly, looking as if he understood Fenris very well. "That's why you are brain dead and can't live a true immortal life like us. No wonder you are dissatisfied with us... Hmm, I understand."

"What the hell do you understand?!" Fenris snapped.

Luo Qi, meanwhile, rubbed his temples, his head aching.

These cultists are so evil that it's beyond words. Although he also felt that one of them was embracing death and the other was embracing dreams, and their behavior was quite similar, he dared not say it out loud, lest Fenris turn his attention to him later.

But then again, aren't there many normal people here?

Why should he, the future Pope of the Rhine, be caught between two strange cultists?

Thinking of this, Luo Qi turned his gaze to the others in the tent.

There are three more waves of people remaining.

Luo Qi looked over and saw that the person closest to him was the representative of the Holy Sound. He was all alone and looked unwell, as if he was just there to make up the numbers.

To be precise, they are indeed just there to make up the numbers. Currently Holy Sound Player can still use Movement Spell are basically former Guardian. The Holy Sound is now just a name, so there's nothing left for them to do. Therefore, the Holy Sound Messengers here are more symbolic than practical.

Beside the Holy Sound was a young woman, the only woman in the area. She did not have the distinctive features of the Underworld and Eternal Nightmare, and looked like an ordinary person.

But Luo Qi still guessed the other party's origin— Lyra.

In the past, the Lyra People were quite recognizable, as most of them were half-human, half-machine. However, after that incident, the vast majority of their machinery was damaged, and their previous technology was lost, plunging the Lyra back to a primitive state overnight. It's said they've stabilized now, but they're still far from their former power.

Previously, the Rhine and Lyra had a close relationship, with exchanges and cooperation between the two religions, but that has ceased now. Therefore, Luo Qi had no interest in dealing with the Lyra messenger who was no longer what he once was, and was preparing to turn his attention to the last one.

But just then, he caught a glimpse of the man standing behind the woman out of the corner of his eye.

Judging from his position, the man appears to be the woman's attendant. He is wearing a mask that covers half of his face, but the exposed half of his face is extremely pale, making him look like he is seriously ill.

Luo Qi wasn't too surprised by this, since after that disaster, there were hardly any normal people left among the Lyra People; they were mostly disabled.

The other person noticed Luo Qi's gaze and gave Luo Qi a friendly look in return.

Luo Qi snorted inwardly.

Hmph, trying to get my attention this way?

You're so naive. I've seen countless versions of your type.

Next!

Luo Qi turned his gaze to the last group of people—two armored messengers.

If we needed to rely on other characteristics to infer identity in the previous steps, this final step can be determined by the process of elimination.

The last Esoteric Sect —the union of two beings.

The moment Loki saw the other person, a strong sense of disgust welled up in Luo Qi heart. This was different from the physical disgust he felt from the stench he had smelled from Fenris and the Netherworld Envoy. This disgust came from the bottom of his heart.

Even though the other party was wearing armor that covered his entire body, making it impossible to see his face, and didn't have the same scent as Fenris and the Netherworld Envoy, Luo Qi still felt disgusted.

The other side sensed something, and a very neutral voice came from under the armor.

"Bishop of the Rhine, I don't know if it's just my imagination, but I sense that you seem to be somewhat dissatisfied with us."

"Don't doubt it, that's just your imagination." Luo Qi withdrew his gaze and said calmly, "I have no complaints about you."

The other person fell silent, remaining still as still as a statue.

In this way, all Eight Great Churches except for Xingyi and Senluo (Wildfire) took to the stage.

The three major orthodox religions: Rhine, Lyra, and Holy Sound.

The three major Esoteric Sect: Eternal Nightmare, Underworld Path, and Twin Forms.

Luo Qi narrowed his eyes slightly.

From this perspective, the orthodox Church's current strength is actually far inferior to that of the Esoteric Sect. Lyra is being rebuilt, the Holy Sound is practically defunct, the Starry Sky is too far away, and even its strongest force, Isaiah, is now embroiled in trouble. Even the Rhine has been significantly weakened by the loss of two bishops within six months. With this shift in power, the Esoteric Sect, which has been suppressed by the orthodox Church for millennia, has unknowingly reversed the tide.

... How did things suddenly turn out like this?

Thinking about it carefully, it all started when that guy Ulu killed Ke Li.

Damn it, it's all the one-eyed man's fault!

Luo Qi cursed the dead in his heart.

Just then, the tent flap was lifted, and a massive figure, as large as a small mountain, appeared before everyone.

In an instant, all the little thoughts in the tent vanished. Fenris and the Netherworld Envoy stopped bickering, and everyone's eyes fell on the newcomer. Even Luo Qi subconsciously sat up straight, like an obedient child.

Because the person who came was three meters tall, the spacious tent looked like a toy in front of him, and he had to bend down to get in.

At the same time, he was not wearing clothes or armor, but rather chains wrapped around his body, with sealing runes drawn on the chains.

He walked slowly forward, the chains dragging on the ground with a harsh sound, creating a great sense of oppression.

Finally, he took his seat in the main seat, his two scarlet eyes scanning everyone present through the gaps in the chains, and then a deep, hoarse voice came from beneath the chains.

"My name is Forniat."

He said slowly.

"Of course, you can also call me by my title— Warden."

"I only have one target under my supervision."

"That is... Visas."