The Warden

Forniatt.

He is the Warden of Contract Land, and also the nominal supreme commander of Contract Land.

This is all the outside world knows about him. As for who he really is, or how old he is, no one knows. Not even the Popes of the various churches have more detailed information. All they know is that he, like Contract Land, exists to seal Visas.

To exist for one person... No, to be precise, to exist for a soulless remnant.

"You have all traveled a great distance, and yet I have little to offer you as hospitality," the Warden spoke slowly, his voice still grating on the teeth. "All I can offer is my mission. This is a mission given to me by the great Gods, and it is also your mission. Since that is the case, let us dispense with pleasantries."

I thought you weren't saying any pleasantries at all, you got straight to the point as soon as we arrived, Luo Qi thought to himself.

Everyone in the tent was observing the Warden, and he was no exception. However, unlike the others, he was scrutinizing the Warden with an extra layer of appraisal.

Mainly, he wanted to see if this guy could possibly be "Miss Ring Finger." After all, with the precedent of the Tongue, Luo Qi knew that gender in Peach Blossom Paradise didn't necessarily correspond to gender in reality.

So, it's known that Miss Ring Finger is from Contract Land and is very powerful.

The Warden is also from Contract Land and is equally powerful.

So, could they be the same person? After all, with these chains wrapped around him, it's hard to tell his gender.

Of course, as of now, Luo Qi still couldn't find any common ground between the Warden and that Miss Ring Finger. He could only say that the gap between them was quite significant.

"Visas is dead, but his power has been wandering the human world," the Warden said. "Since we cannot completely erase his existence, we must at least prevent his power from re-converging. This is the purpose of this gathering. As you can see, the Obedience of Heavenly Voice has been set up. We only need to input a name into it to resolve the hidden danger. But I didn't expect that such a simple matter could still lead to complications."

The Warden's gaze fell upon Luo Qi, making Luo Qi feel as if a thorn was stuck in his back.

"The information was provided by Rhine, requesting the execution of a heretic named Ulu, and stating that the target had at least four body parts," the Warden said calmly. "But now, you want to change the name?"

At this moment, Luo Qi regretted attending this gathering.

He had initially thought he was here to showcase the greatness of Rhine's next Pope to the various factions, but now it seemed more like he was here to take the blame and get scolded.

If things went wrong here, wouldn't that old fart Lang Ge push all the responsibility onto him? But he wasn't the one who gathered the intel.

Despite having many complaints he wanted to voice, Luo Qi knew that at this time, he could only bear it, as he represented Rhine's reputation.

"When we submitted the information, we should have mentioned that it was just our deduction," Luo Qi said, bracing himself. "We only knew that four body parts were missing. In such a short period, we naturally assumed the perpetrator was a single person, Ulu, and didn't expect him to have accomplices."

"Accomplices?" the Warden asked. "How do you know they are accomplices?"

Luo Qi's heart skipped a beat.

Damn it, I forgot that the information about the Tongue and the Hand Eye being accomplices came from Peach Blossom Paradise. These guys here don't know that.

Think of a way, think of a way!

Luo Qi's mind raced.

Got it!

"Because I saw that person with my own eyes," Luo Qi said slowly. "Chief Fenris can attest to this. I fought with the holder of that body part, and at that time, he told me that he had cooperated with Ulu to obtain the body parts, and was ultimately betrayed by Ulu."

The Warden looked at Fenris, who nodded slightly. "Yes, I can confirm that Bishop Luo Qi did indeed encounter such a person."

"I want to know his identity, not a vague description of 'such a person'," the Warden said.

"He has many names," Luo Qi said solemnly. "Because he comes from Holy Sound and single-handedly caused the disaster of Holy Sound. The names I know alone include Xi Ze, He Wei Ni Ya..."

As he spoke, the representatives of Holy Sound and Lyra both looked up.

"A Seven Sound Player?" the Warden tapped the table lightly, then turned to the representative of Holy Sound. "What does Holy Sound have to say?"

"The information I have is no more than Bishop Luo Qi's," the Holy Sound representative's face was grim. "Only Headmaster Ulysses, who knew the full picture, but he is already dead."

"Is that so?" the Warden turned his gaze to Ina. "What about the representative of Lyra? As far as I know, Holy Sound was not the only one to suffer a drastic change."

"Unfortunately, the information we have is also limited," Ina said. "In fact, we don't even know which body part was lost. We wouldn't have even known that we had such a body part if it weren't for Rhine's report, because it was never in our possession. Perhaps someone knew, but they departed along with that upheaval."

"In other words, we still cannot determine who the other party is, or how many body parts they have, is that what you're saying?" the Warden said. "If that's the case, which name should we input into the Obedience of Heavenly Voice? Xi Ze, He Wei Ni Ya, or Ulu? Can any of you tell me the answer?"

Under the Warden's interrogation, the atmosphere of the meeting instantly became oppressive.

Until the representative of the Netherworld spoke, "Can't we input all of them?"

The Warden looked at the representative of the Netherworld and said, "The Obedience of Heavenly Voice will erase all existences in this world that recognize the name of the person being inputted. One name can take away the lives of thousands, which is why the agreement of the Eight Great Churches is required to activate it... You actually want to input three at once?"

"Is there a problem?" the Netherworld representative scratched his head. "Isn't it a good thing to let more people embrace death?"

Everyone fell silent.

Finally, the Warden spoke, "You are a bit too extreme. We did not intend for so many people to meet the Lord of the Netherworld, and the Obedience of Heavenly Voice cannot input so many names; it requires energy."

"But..." the Netherworld representative was about to speak again.

"Enough," the Warden interrupted him. "As far as I know, the Netherworld has no connection with those two, so please refrain from speaking for now and just listen."

The Netherworld representative then shut his mouth.

The Warden's attitude towards the Netherworld representative made Luo Qi somewhat confused.

The Warden was extremely oppressive towards the representatives of other churches, like a superior looking down on an inferior. However, when facing the Netherworld representative, he did not exude such pressure.

Why was that?

Luo Qi was puzzled but did not show it, merely keeping it in his heart.

After circling around, the Warden, perhaps realizing that only Rhine could provide valuable information, turned his gaze back to Luo Qi.

"What corpse fragments did that Seven Sound Player possess?" the Warden asked.

"A tongue, ears, and teeth."

"Three corpse fragments?"

"Yes."

The Warden stared at Luo Qi. "How do you know? He used those rules in your fight... all of them?"

No, he hadn't actually used any of them. Luo Qi had seen those three corpse fragments in Peach Blossom Paradise.

Luo Qi knew that directly mentioning the three corpse fragments would be suspicious, but if he didn't point them out, how could he make the Warden realize the severity of the situation?

So, he said with a straight face, "No, he told me himself."

"He told you himself?" the Warden asked. "Why would he expose his own secrets like that?"

"Because he's an arrogant person," Luo Qi had already thought of a reason. "And he wanted to crush me psychologically. During the most intense part of our fight, he told me he had three corpse fragments and that I could never defeat him, urging me to give up early."

"And what was the outcome of the battle?"

"It was a draw, fifty-fifty."

"He only managed a draw with you after using corpse fragments?"

"...Fine, it was a narrow defeat."

The Warden ignored Luo Qi and looked at Fenris, who was also present, seeking confirmation.

Fenris nodded. "I can confirm that Bishop Luo Qi's defeat was indeed regrettable. If he had held on a little longer, we could have gone to help him."

Luo Qi's eyelids twitched.

Damn it, that's not what a narrow defeat means, you idiot!

Luo Qi suppressed the urge to curse.

"So, the detailed information you have about that Seven Sound Player was all revealed by him?" the Warden asked indifferently. "Assuming he's telling the truth, that means no one has ever possessed more than four corpse fragments. This Seven Sound Player had three, and that Ulu had two?"

Luo Qi could hear the sarcasm in the Warden's words and knew the reason behind it.

In fact, over the past thousand years, there had been holders of multiple corpse fragments, but most of them were dealt with internally by the various churches.

There were cases of two corpse fragments and cases of three corpse fragments, but they hadn't caused much of a stir. This was why Rhine, knowing that Ulu likely already possessed three corpse fragments, still intended to handle it themselves. Historically, this was feasible, and it never escalated to the point where Contract Land had to intervene.

The reason Contract Land was alerted this time was because, from their perspective, a holder of four corpse fragments had appeared, an unprecedented event. Furthermore, the incident had escalated significantly, and Rhine's individual attempts to resolve it had repeatedly failed, forcing them to report it to Contract Land.

But now, it seemed that a holder of four corpse fragments didn't exist at all; it was just three and two. This gave the Warden reason to question how the various churches had managed the situation.

Although looking back now, the fact that Hand Eye and Tongue alone could turn the churches upside down was indeed somewhat outrageous, the Warden's condescending tone made Luo Qi quite uncomfortable. So, for once, he stood his ground and said to the Warden, "It's useless to dwell on the reasons now. It's better to focus on what to do next."

"Of course, that is the purpose of this Gathering," the Warden said calmly. "Now, only the final step remains. I need a name. I originally thought this name would be He Wei Ni Ya or Xi Ze, but now it seems the situation has changed?"

...Here it comes, the most crucial matter.

Everyone looked at the Warden, and as expected, the Warden slowly spoke.

"Tell me, what's the deal with Isaiah of Star Relic?"

Bai Wei, standing behind Ina, was also quietly observing the Warden.

This was a character who didn't exist in the game itself, so Bai Wei was seeing him for the first time.

And his impression of the Warden was strange; he didn't seem human at all, giving off a very chaotic feeling. The chains on him also carried sealing power, which could block Bai Wei's observation to some extent. Although Bai Wei could further use his gaze to forcefully see through them, it was highly likely that the Warden would notice, so he didn't do it.

In fact, it wasn't just the Warden who gave Bai Wei a chaotic feeling; the Envoy from the Netherworld and the Knights of Dual Instruments also gave him a non-human impression.

Bai Wei knew what the Netherworld and Dual Instruments were like; to some extent, they had indeed transcended the human realm.

Then what was this Warden? What was he? In Contract Land, the Warden was equivalent to the Pope, and even Ring Finger Diana was his subordinate. So, what was his strength, and how did he compare to Isaiah?

It seemed he needed to find a way to probe him first. After all, if Bai Wei wanted to reclaim his body, this guy was unavoidable.

Hmm, why not find a way to make him clash with Isaiah?

As Bai Wei was contemplating, the explanation about Isaiah had concluded, so he withdrew his thoughts and continued to be an inconspicuous follower.

"You say Isaiah killed that Seven Sound Player," the Warden said slowly. "But you have no evidence, not even the corpse. How can you expect me to believe you?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Luo Qi said. "Besides that Seven Sound Player, who else could fight him to that extent? And this talk about some Black Merchant appearing out of nowhere, don't you think that reason is too flimsy? Also, last night was not the Spotless Night. Logically, Star Relic Warlocks relying on the Stars shouldn't be able to exert such power, but Isaiah did."

"You think he relied on the power of corpse fragments?"

"It's obvious," Luo Qi said. "It's precisely because he knows how powerful the corpse fragments are that he would take such a risk to intercept and concoct such a shoddy excuse."

Before coming, Luo Qi had rehearsed his arguments several times in his mind to ensure his "impeachment" of Isaiah would succeed, emphasizing logic and irrefutability.

The Warden did not refute him. After a brief silence, he looked up at the Envoy from the Netherworld.

"Envoy of the Netherworld, I would like to hear your opinion."

Hear his opinion?

Luo Qi's brow immediately furrowed.

What does this have to do with him?

Just as Luo Qi was about to ask, the Warden's next sentence made him freeze.

"After all, you are people who have seen Visas with your own eyes."