World's Greatest Support

Iver and his group of more than a dozen people descended to the Fifth Ring without encountering any obstacles.

This made Sherlock frown slightly, feeling somewhat puzzled.

"Saintess Highness... how did you find the location of that Curse Master?"

He confirmed it.

The Saintess, her eyes blindfolded with a white silk ribbon, bowed slightly and explained to him, "Curse Counter-Tracking—using a curse that you've dispelled to pinpoint the approximate location of the other party. This is a common technique among priests of the Theocracy, and one can begin to learn and master it once they reach the Third Level of their Dedication Path."

"Once your priests in Avalon reach the rank of bishop, they will come to the Theocracy for further studies. Only then will they learn some mysterious skills that can only be learned from the Theocracy ... Iver will be able to learn them later."

"So, any bishop can master this skill?"

Sherlock pressed on.

Upon hearing this, Iver realized. "You mean, could this be a trap?"

"... It's not impossible."

Chunbai frowned slightly and paused in her steps.

She tilted her head back, as if closing her eyes and listening to the whistling of the wind.

Then Chunbai opened her eyes, looked at Iver and Sherlock, and her expression became slightly serious. "That Curse Master has not changed his position since he completed the curse."

"It sounds more like a trap," Sherlock commented.

He glanced at the Pope Guard and said somewhat tactfully, "Should we bring more men?"

Upon hearing this, the young male elf who was leading the group immediately laughed, "No need."

"There's really no need."

Iver nodded. "It's more important to prevent them from escaping—if there's a trap, we'll just take it by force."

Sherlock had not participated in the Promotion Ritual he and Isabel had just attended, and had no idea of Pope Guard's combat strength— Pope Guard in pairs could easily fight against a Fifth Level superhuman... After all, abilities involving time manipulation are not simple.

Not to mention, as long-lived beings, they can easily accumulate a large amount of combat experience, which is completely incomparable to the rapidly cultivated Fourth Level superhumans of the Avalon Arbitration Hall with an average age of less than forty.

They were generally able to determine the identity of the enemy.

[Red Wine Mister] Bram Stoker – He could indeed be Fifth Level, but the possibility is not very high. However, even if he were Fifth Level, he couldn't possibly defeat so many of them. Even if he wanted to target Iver, there was no reason for him to provoke Her Highness the Saintess ... Cursing "Zumai Di" in front of the Saintess was already an insult and a provocation.

There are actually only two possibilities.

One possibility is that "Red Wine Mister" was unaware that Iver would be leading the trolls to Cardinal Loki at that time, thus coincidentally encountering Her Highness the Saintess was there to cause trouble for Cardinal Loki. His choice to curse the Ritual Mage named Zumai Di was based on other purposes such as silencing witnesses, misleading others, or locating him.

This possibility is actually quite high.

After all, those three silly trolls spent the entire day wandering around the port of the First Ring yesterday. Three trolls of different colors traveling together made them much more easily identifiable than Iver. It's quite normal that someone leaked their information, which led to "Red Wine Mister" discovering them.

But why would Curse Master choose to kill only one person?

After the curse was lifted, he neither fled nor attempted to continue cursing Zumai Di or change his target. Moreover, the person he cursed happened to be Curse Master, who held the lowest status in troll society.

Another possibility is...

Another possibility popped into Iver's mind.

This was a possibility that only Iver could have considered immediately: just as he chose to kill "Sherlock" during the Promotion Ritual to inform Isabel—

"However, it's always good to be cautious. So, just in case..."

With a serious expression, he spoke in a low voice.

She stopped abruptly, clasped her hands together, interlaced her fingers, and closed her eyes in prayer.

Iver felt as if something was watching him for a moment.

Even the system panel of Iver reacted:

You felt the gaze of 'dedication'.

You felt the gaze of 'twilight'.

You felt the gaze of 'love'.

[You have gained a temporary trait: Light has three states]

[Devotion/Twilight/Love - Light has three states: When you deal damage or resist using "Holy" type spell arts, gain +1 advantage (blessing); your "Holy" type shields, resistances, and statuses gain Dispel Resistance, and gain +1 advantage (blessing) when resisting dispel; your attacks ignore "Unholy" type resistance bonuses, this trait lasts until the next midnight.]

The next moment, the radiance behind Pure White roared and expanded instantly.

Invisible, pure white wings of light coalesced and unfurled behind her, enveloping everyone before shattering and dissipating like glass.

[You have gained a temporary buff: Saintess's Wings]

[Saintess's Wings: You gain Strength of Body / Heroic Courage / Mana Uplift for one hour]

A radiant light emanated from everyone, coalescing into a shield of light on their bodies. Then, that shield of light vanished back beneath their skin.

[You have gained a temporary buff: Radiant Shield]

[Radiant Shield: Grants moderate reduction in light/ Dark Attribute damage; grants resistance to slashing/cutting/piercing; grants protection against curses/instant death/plague for fifteen minutes]

The next moment, a gentle white light emanated from everyone.

They coalesced into a ball of light, floating up from above. They then blossomed into a green light, showering down like rain upon us.

You have gained a temporary buff: Saintess's Protection.

[Saintess's Protection: You gain False Life - Third Level; when about to suffer a fatal wound, you immediately receive a powerful healing effect. This effect can be used three times and lasts for thirty minutes.]

"... That should solve the problem."

Pure White released her hands and calmly said, "I've applied a slight protective buff to you and given you some pretty good buffs. That should be fine."

She looked to be in excellent condition and showed no signs of fatigue.

Iver' eyes widened immediately.

At this moment, Iver suddenly realized something: although he had now reached the Fourth Level... it seemed that he didn't need to buff himself at all.

Because in their temporary team, there was someone standing at the top of the Fifth Level —undoubtedly the world's top support player.

Iver's vision was so broad that he only remembered that Pure White did not succeed to the throne in the end... because this Pope woke up again in the end.

According to the original history, Pure White only succeeded as the Eternal Pope after the Theocracy summoned the Candle Heaven Holder, but this event was not within the player's field of vision, so Iver didn't really feel it.

Now that I think about it... if she didn't have Ningpo, Chunbai would be the next Eternal Pope next month.

With such support by my side, what is there to be afraid of!

Iver's courage immediately grew.

He recalled Chunbai's words, "I will not let anyone suffer in front of me."

With Gloria and Mercedes both dead, this statement seems somewhat ironic. To exaggerate a bit, it's probably meme-worthy, used to express "I can't do anything."

But now, Iver truly realized the weight of those words—if Pure White didn't want you to die, it would indeed be very difficult to die in front of her.

... And it was under this intensity of power that she was unable to save her two friends.

Conversely, Iver suddenly understood why pure white would turn into amber.

She possesses the power to save everyone, yet she is powerless against Amberization Disease ... She can keep Gloria alive, albeit painfully, but at best, she can only prevent her from dying again. The limit of what she can do is simply "maintain the status quo," hoping that the disease will not worsen.

From this perspective, it's not just Mercedes and Pure White that are tormenting Gloria.

Gloria's very existence is a torment for Mercedes and Pure White.

Even mortals caring for a bedridden patient would become mentally exhausted after just a few years. For elves, Ningpo was a terrible disease, like cancer... and thanks to Pure White's powerful intervention, Gloria's life was extended by two hundred years, but this also meant that Pure White had to endure over two hundred years of hardship.

... Could it be that Gloria and Mercedes ' actions were actually aimed at liberating the pure white?

If they discover pure white amber... if they believe it's all their fault...

—In that instant, Iver thought of someone else.

"' Premature Death ' is merely Necessary Evil..."

"Iver murmured."

... Speaking of which...

That man is currently in the Theocracy.