Chapter 305

"Never mind, let Lin Qi see if she can find an opportunity later."

Ryan glanced at the sky; it was already night. Sesia had arranged for his followers to infiltrate various parts of Port of Misi to spread their faith.

He didn't need to personally oversee the development of the outermost layer of believers; he only needed to select suitable, high-quality believers, and leave the rest to Sesia. Hmm, he could always reward Sesia later; it was time to consider boosting her strength.

The seventh rank is easy to break through with a little effort. For the sake of the empire, I doubt the twins will hold a grudge.

"Speaking of which, it's been a long time since I've seen my first wife."

He opened the game and glanced at 'Lin Qi's' side. His first wife had just finished her work. Ryan closed his eyes and slowly entered the Misty Space.

Because Lin Qi is the Saintess of Janus, Ryan has never had a deep conversation with her, for fear of being discovered. However, if physical intimacy is not possible, a few rounds of mental intimacy should not be a problem.

"Um?"

As soon as Ryan entered the Misty Space, he suddenly sensed that something was wrong.

He looked up and saw that among the countless dim stars, one star suddenly lit up.

Moreover, the light grew brighter and brighter, until it momentarily overshadowed all the other stars that had already been lit!

"Could it be that Sesia has discovered a treasure?"

Ryan quickly extended his Mental Power to investigate, wanting to know who this devout follower was.

As a result, when his spirit observed the other end of the convergence of faith through the stars, what he saw was a person he had seen countless times in the propaganda of Gate of Janus — Pope Sylvia!

At this moment, Sylvia was kneeling before a statue in an abandoned temple, chanting devoutly:

"... O Greatest Lord of this world, Creator Balshatt, the sun is your heart, the moon is your eyes, time and space flow around you, the earth is measured beneath your feet, and order is the scales you have set for all things..."

"... Your devout follower, Sylvia, humbly beseeches you to bestow your boundless power, allowing me, in my lowly position, to enter the realm of the gods and become one of your servants."

Chapter 189 The Pope Gradually Understands Everything

A question mark slowly appeared above Ryan's head.

So... what's going on here?

Pope Sylvia? What's she doing?

"Why can I see Sylvia's prayer ritual? Wait, is she asking me for something? The Balshatt ritual, where did she learn that?"

Ryan was puzzled. Wasn't this a bit strange? The Pope of the Gate of Janus was actually praying to another god for blessings? In this river?

He could understand any ordinary church member, but this was the Pope! Your Majesty, why are you rebelling?

Moreover, Balshatt lived before the previous era, which is over a thousand years ago. Sylvia was still able to find the ritual method, even though she is not very old, unlike the witch K who has lived for over a thousand years.

So this guy is a complete rebel leader, and he's been searching for Balshatt's secret for a long time.

"This woman wants to become a god? That means she must be at the peak of the Eighth Tier rank... LOL, you're begging me to become a god? I want to become a god myself. If you can make me a god, I'll call you 'Mom'."

With that thought in mind, Ryan refocused his attention on the star.

Through the stars, only Sylvia's situation could be seen; the surrounding scenery was obscured. However, it was vaguely discernible that she was on an altar in some ruin, surrounded by familiar array carvings and sacrificial offerings. Around the circular altar, it seemed there were other people present.

But those people weren't Singer, nor did they seem to be praying like Sylvia. They appeared to be kneeling on the ground, but the situation was too vague for Ryan to be sure.

Just then, Sylvia raised her head, and a clear look of disappointment appeared in her golden eyes, as if she had not received the Creator's blessing.

"Is the ritual wrong? Or is there a problem elsewhere? The offerings?"

Sylvia murmured to herself.

She suddenly stood up and beckoned.

The Magic Power materialized into a virtual hand that flew out and pulled one of the figures nearby towards it.

"... What are you doing! Sylvia, what are you going to do to me?!"

He was a man who looked to be in his forties, with upright features and a strong physique, resembling a general on the battlefield.

"You traitor! The great Janus will never let you get away with this!"

"Janus? If He could hear, how could you have fallen into my hands?" Sylvia said indifferently, without any emotion. "Buende, this world is far more complex than you imagine. God is not inviolable... no, it should be said that the God we know is not the true God, but a title bestowed upon the strong by fools, awe born of fear, and terror born of ignorance."

Buende sneered, "Are you saying you're smarter than all of us? Is that your excuse for overstepping your bounds? You madman!"

"If we're talking about madmen, who among us isn't? The moment we became God's chosen ones, we were already part of the Faith Path. If we can't transcend and become stronger, one day we'll all go mad because we can't withstand the erosion of the Faith Path. Everyone thinks that being chosen by God is a gift from the gods, but little do they know that we are merely tools summoned by God."

"Arrogance! The gift of God's choice is glorious and sublime. If it weren't for this power, what right would you have to sit on the throne of Pope!"

You still don't understand.

A faint golden light appeared in Sylvia's eyes. She stared at Buende for a long time before finally saying nothing, instead making a gesture in the air with her hand.

In an instant, a white light flashed, like a blade cutting through space, slicing across Buende's neck, causing his pupils to shrink abruptly.

"You... kill me... I curse you... to die a horrible death..."

"Sacrifice requires the blood of the chosen one, Buende. We are all 'creations' of the Creator, so you will not truly die. Your power will return to this world, to the hands of the great Creator."

The crimson liquid flowed into the array patterns on the altar. Sylvia quickly chanted a spell, and then the altar burst forth with white light, transforming into a surge of power.

Ryan discovered that a portion of this power had gathered in the Misty Space, merging into his body like the power of faith!

Is this even allowed?

Sylvia, how come you understand me better than I do?

"Although, even if you offer yourself as a sacrifice, I still can't make you a god."

Ryan had tried before, but he couldn't mobilize the power of the Misty Space to bestow it upon those believers; at least not now.

Forget it, taking bribes and then doing nothing—isn't that just standard practice for gods?

Moreover, believers should take this kind of thing for granted.

However, Sylvia's situation was somewhat special. She wasn't entirely sure about the correctness of the ritual to begin with, and without knowing whether it would succeed, she could only keep trying various guesses.

The most direct solution right now is to increase the power of the sacrifices, which means those who have been captured. Ryan really doesn't understand why sacrifices have to involve killing people. It's one thing for the Outer Gods' priests to kill people, but damn it, they kill the True Gods too.

This wasn't something Sylvia did alone. As far as Ryan knew, the priests of the Ring of Abundance also killed people, just not as many. They would choose a boy and a girl as sacrifices under the pretext of selecting servants for the Earth God.

After Ryan found out about this, he thought, "If I were the Earth God, I'd be the first to kill these idiots!"

However, Ryan was indeed surprised that Sylvia, as Pope, would so readily commit murder and sacrifice. It was clear that rising from Saintess to Pope was no simple feat, and if he hadn't misheard, she was targeting the Chosen of the Gods?

Ryan suddenly remembered that Kachina had mentioned the disappearance of the Chosen of the Gods. Recently, some Chosen of the Gods on the continent had mysteriously disappeared, and she had also warned him to be careful.

"Could all those missing Chosen of the Gods have been captured by Sylvia?"

Hiss!

This is insane!

Ryan gasped for a large, cold breath.

Killing Chosen of the Gods is completely different from killing an ordinary person.

While pondering, Sylvia killed another one. This was a female Supernatural Being, and quite beautiful at that. What a pity.

After killing two Chosen of the Gods, the sacrificial power generated was gathered in the Misty Space. However, Ryan could not sense any obvious changes here. Moreover, due to his lack of Advancement Fragment, he could only accumulate power but could not break through.

At this point, Sylvia stopped.

Seemingly because she still couldn't get any feedback, she also felt that this couldn't go on. The Chosen of the Gods weren't chickens, ducks, pigs, or sheep; killing one would mean losing one less, and the risk was too great.

If they are highly promising Chosen of the Gods, killing them could attract the attention of the gods.

Although she knew that many gods were not capable of truly descending, it was still a problem, since she was still the Pope of the Gate of Janus on the surface, and this was a matter that only heaven, earth, and she knew.

"Why? Where did things go wrong? The ritual method I received should be correct. It uses the power of the chosen ones as sacrifices. Does it mean I need to gather all the Chosen of the Gods from the Faith Path?"

"Or is it that the Baalshatt of the Gods is simply a lie, or even doesn't exist?"

Sylvia was somewhat confused. She learned of Balshatt's disappearance because she had glimpsed a corner of the War of the Gods, but it was not a personal experience. It was not impossible that this information was deliberately fabricated by someone.

Disguise, gain faith, and faith is the key to becoming a god.

Sylvia had also considered this path, but as the Pope of the Gate of Janus, her special status made it difficult to handle such matters.

What if Janus really did notice them?

Therefore, she chose to sacrifice herself to the Creator, an omnipotent and great being, so becoming a god should have been a piece of cake for her.

Just then, Sylvia suddenly felt an unfamiliar fluctuation in her mind.

"Um?"

Like a mysterious power descending from space, Sylvia's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, immediately perked up, and a glimmer of hope appeared in her eyes. Unfortunately, it only lasted for a moment, and then the power completely disappeared.

Sylvia was stunned for a moment, not understanding what had happened.

"The ritual was successful? But why didn't any power descend... Right, the original notes record that after Balshatt created the world, its power was diminished and it was also corrupted by external forces. This is probably why the gods were suppressed by the Outer Gods."

"In other words, Balshatt is likely in a deep sleep. If I could help Him regain His power..."

Sylvia's eyes flickered slightly.

She seemed to be gradually understanding everything!

She must become a god.

This is a path worth trying.

If that fails, then we'll have to find another way.

"It doesn't work? Strange, is this woman's situation different from the other believers?"

On the other side of the Misty Space, Ryan looked puzzled.

He had just tried to pull Sylvia into the Misty Space to personally bestow blessings upon her, but he had failed.

He could forcibly pull even the witch K in, but he couldn't do that to Sylvia; their strength should be roughly the same.

"I see, this guy isn't truly devoted to me at all." Ryan gradually understood the reasoning behind it.

The Misty Space connects him to all believers through the power of faith. The prerequisite for summoning them is being a 'believer'. He had already discovered this when he fooled the manor maids like Phyllis. Only as their devotion to faith increases will the stars reflected in the Misty Space be lit up.

As for Sylvia, the stars she reflects are illuminated by ritual power, not by devout faith. And indeed, the stronger a person is, the more opinionated they become. Someone like Sylvia, who doesn't even believe in Janus, how could she possibly believe in a creator whose existence is still uncertain?

"What a pity, otherwise we could have just pulled her in and given her a good dose of the potion, and made her convert to the God of Desire."

Just when Ryan thought he had failed, Sylvia suddenly knelt down again.

"O supreme, highest, and greatest Creator of this world, Baalshatt of the Gods, your devout follower Sylvia will surely offer you even more sacrifices, so that you may regain your strength soon!"

Ryan: "Uh..."

Wait, what's this woman doing?

Although Ryan wanted to see more, as the power of the ritual disappeared, the star reflected by Sylvia slowly dimmed, and then completely severed his connection with Sylvia.

"Hmm... it seems Sylvia believes it for now. I don't know why, but it's a good thing nonetheless."

"It's a pity. If only we could have spread some information over there. If we could have gotten her to help develop the Primal Church, things would have been much easier."

Besides faith, there are also Advancement Fragment. Ryan stroked his chin and suddenly thought of his current identity. Although Sylvia did not truly believe in Balshatt, she could only become a god through this method.

So, if Sylvia knew about the existence of the Primal Church and that his 'true identity' was actually the chosen one of Balshatt, she probably wouldn't have attacked him in the future.

"We need to retrieve the Advancement Fragment from the Janus Temple immediately. Once we reach the fifth tier, I won't have to worry about facing the seventh tier."

This is urgent, but we can't rush it. Sylvia is the one who should be worried. That woman is so eager to become a god, she will definitely do everything she can to help him regain his strength.

Ryan opened the game, switched to his first wife 'Lin Qi's' character interface, and instructed her to send the existence of the Primal Church back to the Gate of Janus.

First, throw out the bait and wait for Sylvia to take the bait.

If the Pope investigates the Primal Church, he will inevitably find out about the situation in Port of Misi.

Ryan wasn't worried about being exposed. In fact, if Sylvia knew he was also in the church, she would only suspect that he was a primordial agent who had infiltrated the Augustus Empire, rather than that Augustus was the one who had infiltrated the Primal Church.

Then Sylvia seized the opportunity to cooperate with him. Sylvia helped him plot the imperial cause and develop the church's power, while he helped Sylvia stabilize herself in the Primal Church and obtain more information about the Creator. See, it's like he has roots and Sylvia just happens to have a hole. It's such a coincidence.

As for danger, Ryan has even less to worry about. With Witch K around, and Sylvia also being Eighth Tier transcendent, she wouldn't dare to act recklessly.

Moreover, compared to Ryan, Sylvia was even less willing to let things escalate. If people found out that she, the Pope of the Gate of Janus, dared to betray the Creation God Janus, the Church, with its sheer size, could drown her with a single spit.

To put it bluntly, Sylvia just wants to become a god. I'm not standing in her way and I'm even giving her a path, so there's definitely no danger.

"My dear wife, it's up to you now. Find a suitable way to lure His Holiness the Pope out."

Watching 'Lin Qi' handle the matter, Ryan closed the game with satisfaction.