April 6, afternoon.
Narcissus Principality, Protagoras Territory, Basel Port.
Iver, clad in an elegant black-and-crimson papal robe and holding the Corona Scepter, slowly stepped down from the Elven warship.
His golden hair had grown back to shoulder length, and his emerald-green eyes shone with extraordinary brilliance. A large emerald-colored gemstone was visible on the chest of his robe. The papal robe was primarily black, decorated with deep-red and bright-gold thorns.
As for the Corona Scepter in Iver's hand... it had always been a decorative scepter of the sort that looked incredibly cool, but wasn't actually that powerful. Paired with Iver's black-and-crimson robes, however, it fit perfectly—at least, the overall aesthetic was flawless.
The moment Iver stepped off the ship, everyone immediately knew he was an important figure.
—The warship behind him served as proof enough.
"So this is the Narcissus Principality..."
Iver sighed with emotion. "This really is my first time here."
This time, Iver had not taken a passenger ship. Presumably, Theocracy would not dare let their Pope travel aboard one.
That would have been somewhat dangerous. In this world, where "taboos" existed in the depths of the sea, even Fifth-Level transcendents faced danger at sea. Not only was there nowhere to hide or take cover across the endless ocean, but they could also be attacked at any moment by sea monsters sleeping on the ocean floor.
Those were all monsters that began at the Fifth Level! The ship Iver had taken was the same model as the warship Hellerchein had used when he traveled to the Isle of Avalon. It was made of beautiful crimson-red wood, with its materials taken from a giant tree. Large quantities of gold and rubies were inlaid around the hull. Each piece was nearly one square meter in area, and there were nearly