Remember to Come Rescue Me

Although Iver cannot currently determine whether the person who stole the experimental subject intended to assassinate the Pure White Saintess during the Pope Promotion Ritual, nor can he determine how much this matter is related to Cardinal Loki and Professor Moriarty...

But he can be sure of at least one thing.

—That man clearly harbored malice towards the Pure White Saintess.

When she realized this, Yanis was visibly furious. "I'm going to see His Pope Your Majesty —when did the Theocracy become a place where such scheming people can run rampant?"

Despite being constantly pressured by the Pure White Saintess, and even being so frightened that he ran around everywhere and dared not go home.

But when Yanis realized that Grey was really in danger, she made no attempt to hide her anger and anxiety.

"It's a pity."

Iver shook his head and replied, "These Demons and Monsters only appeared after His Pope Your Majesty fell into a deep sleep."

"... Can't we wake him up?"

"It's the kind of deep sleep that can't be woken up. Of course, you could also call it a coma."

Iver glanced at the people present and decided to speak frankly, "His Pope Your Majesty's Treeification Disease is starting to worsen. I don't know how much longer he can hold on."

"Why did everything have to happen all at once..."

Yanis frowned. "That's bad. If the Pope isn't here... then I'm afraid the other Cardinal won't make a move either."

"If all these things hadn't happened at the same time, these people probably wouldn't have dared to move at all."

Freya said quietly from the side.

Sherlock agreed, "That's exactly right. If these accidents hadn't happened, this situation probably wouldn't have occurred. Presumably, the Eternal Theocracy has always been like this. That's why it is... 'eternal'. Ha."

It's not because the internal environment is always peaceful and idyllic, but rather because any signs of chaos or trouble are nipped in the bud. And when problems arise at the top, the underlying issues are immediately exposed.

"There are over twenty Cardinal in the Theocracy, isn't there anyone else who can keep an eye on things?"

Lily said instinctively.

"I'm afraid that won't work."

Iver thought about how the plot would develop, and then shook his head.

Lily still instinctively regarded the Cardinal of the Theocracy as the ministers of Avalon.

However, the Theocracy is not a monarchical political structure.

"That's right, Lily. The Theocracy does not have a clear and unified source of political power."

Freya spoke, explaining in a way that Lily could understand, "The Theocracy is not a state where the candle keeper grants power to the Pope, who then Theocracy on behalf of the Pope. The supreme power of the Theocracy itself comes from the Eternal Pope."

"Or rather, the power center of the Theocracy is these Cardinal Bishop of the Fifth Level. Each of them is in charge of a level of 'diocese' and is responsible for taking care of different facilities in this circle, while the Pope himself is also a bishop and therefore in charge of the Twenty-Second Ring."

"It is precisely because these Cardinal Bishop are also Cardinal Bishop of the Nine Pillars God Church, and are subject to the Pope within the Church, that the Pope has the power to rule the Theocracy."

"They are all top-tier transcendents who Dedication Path the Fifth Level, and the Pope is ahead of all of them. Just as the Pillar God is the one who has gone the furthest in the Dream Realm, the Pope has thus become the protector and leader of all of them."

"But in reality, the Pope has never had the right to rule the entire Theocracy. The area directly controlled by the Pope is only the Twenty-Second Ring; the Pope's own responsibility is only to communicate with all the inhabitants of all the circles and to provide energy to the giant tree."

"...Doesn't that mean," Lily's eyes widened, " that the Theocracy might eventually split apart because of this?"

"From a historical perspective," Freya explained, "the Theocracy has always been fragmented. It is actually equivalent to the union of twenty-two city-states stacked together. And since the founding of the Church, the rulers of these twenty-two federations have happened to be within the same organization. Therefore, there is no affiliation between the Cardinal Bishop, and their powers cannot be checked and balanced against each other."

"In the end," Yanis answered softly, "We elves are ultimately Children of the Giant Tree. Even though the Nine Pillars God Church now reveres the Candle Masters, and the Candle Masters are willing to protect the Theocracy ... the 'land' of the Theocracy actually belongs to the ' Great Giant Tree.' After all, it is His remains, and He himself naturally has the right to dispose of them; we are still using the remains of the Great Tree, so we must naturally respect the rules of the Great Tree."

"As the apostle of the candle, the Great Tree personally established the rule that only devotees of at least the Fifth Level can control a ring, and each person can only control one ring."

"Why is that?"

Upon hearing this, Iver suddenly understood why the Candle Masters had remained silent during the division of the Theocracy.

So he pressed further, "Why did they merge later?"

"Because although the giant tree is an ancient god, it is enlightened and gentle. It desires that the principles of Path of Dedication be divergent, developmental, and innovative."

Yanis sighed, "Then we'll have to start from the very beginning... I doubt you humans have this knowledge in your history books. It's already Secret Knowledge, a story from before the Second Sun set."

"In the beginning of the Elf's existence, they were not unified. At that time, the Elf was called the ' Hundred Sons of the Giant Tree ', and the Theocracy was called the ' Ten Thousand Kingdoms of the Giant Tree ' – not only were each layer independent, but even many of the rings had not yet produced Fifth Level devotee."

"Since the birth of the Nine Pillars God Church, the Theocracy has gone through several Civil War before finally being united. However, its original form was one of division... Therefore, if the Theocracy were to split again, some conservative traditionalists might actually be pleased."

"Take Cardinal Loki as an example: as long as he has not completely lost his power, it means that he has not deviated from the Path of Dedication, and he still has control over this circle. Therefore, whatever actions he chooses to take, even those of the ' Controlled Fire,' are his personal freedom. Because he is the master of the ' Controlled Fire ' sect."

Sherlock, who was standing nearby, understood.

The Theocracy is actually a single denomination, and each Cardinal represents a faction.

The power of the Theocracy does not belong to anyone, but is determined by first come, first served—and qualification is judged solely by resonance with the path.

If the path itself endorses this idea, then even if others do not, it only means that it is a "niche Path of Dedication".

Judging from the height of the giant tree, it certainly did not want this possibility to disappear.

He hopes that competition and coexistence will create more possibilities, rather than stagnation...

"... Stagnation?"

Sherlock murmured as he caught a glimmer of inspiration.

From this perspective, perhaps the current form of the "Theocracy" is what the giant tree dislikes...

"When the Pope is in charge, the path Pope chooses is the highest and only correct direction of the ' Path of Dedication '."

"But since all the Cardinal Bishop are Fifth Level superhumans, it means they must have their own thoughts and their own beliefs. And now that the Pope is silent, they can explain the path they follow... and preach. And from the very beginning, this has been permitted by the Pope."

Yanis said seriously, "Because from the very beginning, the Theocracy could never 'kill' other ideas."

Iver understood.

The reason why, in his memory, after the Pope fell into a coma and the Theocracy was completely divided, all these Cardinal Bishop were in a state of frenzied madness... was because they were all in a state of excitement, trying to recruit people for their own doctrines and beliefs.

"There are too many things to do now, and too many clues. It's getting late... Time is of the essence, so let's split up and conduct our investigation in several groups tomorrow. If no one has any objections, please let me take command for now."

Iver calmly analyzed, "Lily, you and Freya go find Oswald."

"Oswald? Which one...? Oh!"

Freya paused for a moment before managing to recall the name: "Is Oswald also in the Theocracy now?"

"Yes."

Iver nodded.

He recalled that Oswald had been Pope Guard and perhaps had a close relationship with the Pope.

Perhaps he knows some secrets.

Furthermore, if Professor Moriarty returns, he will likely contact Oswald as well. Having Lily and Freya, who are familiar with Oswald, go to him will increase the chances of obtaining useful information; Oswald has nothing he wouldn't say.

"Sherlock, could you please go find Mr. Yunus first? I'll have to leave things there to you for now."

"Leave it to me with confidence."

Sherlock crossed his arms and leaned against the wall.

He answered calmly, his words brimming with confidence.

As Isabel's father, Yunus's troubles also need to be addressed. He knows Yunus's true identity—sending others might not be enough, but Sherlock is certain he can protect Yunus.

"And what about us?"

"Yanis asked."

"Perfect timing. The Pure White Saintess will be looking for you to chat tomorrow. You can tell her about your current troubles as well."

Iver, "Also, Master Agnes can ask her, 'Does Iver still have any dates?' If she says yes, you can introduce Freya to her and then take some dates from her for her to study."

"Okay, I've got it."

Yanis nodded, then asked in return, "And what about you? Where do you plan to go?"

"I want to see Cardinal Loki again by myself."

Iver said in a deep voice, "Perhaps there are some things he can't say in front of you. So I'll go by myself."

"This is dangerous, Iver!"

The first to object was Freya: "According to you, Cardinal Loki might be the mastermind behind this."

Lily looked at Iver with concern, but she did not voice her objection.

That's why I'm telling you this here.

Iver said calmly, "If I don't come back soon... remember to come and rescue me."

"I'm not the type to investigate alone and not tell anyone where I am."

As he spoke, Iver glared at Sherlock.

Sherlock from the original Timeline disappeared for this very reason.

Sherlock tilted his head, somewhat confused. "Are you talking about me?"

"Let's just say I'm talking about you."

Iver didn't bother to explain.