Chapter 309

That being said, quantitative accumulation will eventually lead to qualitative change. Feeling the continuous convergence of faith, Ryan believed that one day the Misty Space would bring him a huge surprise.

"It's a pity. Pope Sylvia hasn't appeared since last time, and Lin Qi hasn't been able to find out anything either. We don't know what she's doing."

While things were going smoothly for him, Ryan was also keeping an eye on the situation at Gate of Janus. He had already asked Lin Qi to pass the message to Sylvia, and if she was interested in investigating, she should be able to easily find out about his situation.

Now that Sylvia knows of Balshatt's existence, she must also have obtained information about the Primal. With the two combined, Ryan doesn't believe she can hold back.

After all, with that crazy urge to become a god, if Ryan could restrain himself, he'd be Grand Duke on his head.

However, since there was no news from Sylvia, and he couldn't possibly go to the Gate of Janus headquarters himself, he could only wait patiently.

Witch K went to find the temple. Meanwhile, Ryan controlled Port of Misi to develop the Primal Church, while having the Holy Blood Army disguise itself as the church's army to carry out a large-scale purge outside and open up the road from Port of Misi to Hersola City.

Whether there's a reason or not, I'll shrink and grow with Adele, and then help Sesia grow more Magic Power.

On the seventh day, Old Joe sent word that the city of Hersola had been taken.

Lady Nina, the City Lord of Hersola, Winchel's younger sister, a core member of the Ring of Abundance, and Fifth Tier Transcendent —take her down!

Ryan was a little confused.

No, seven days? Dude, isn't that a bit too fast?

Taking a city in seven days, Old Joe, are you planning to conquer the kingdom all by yourself?

What the hell does "the second brother pacifies the world" mean?

"Did you really win them over?"

Ryan looked at Jonathan's projection and said with considerable surprise.

"Of course I'd lie to you," Jonathan said, puffing on his cigarette. "It was a bit of a struggle. This woman is even harder to handle than Winchel, especially her reaction when she heard about collaborating with Winchel. Tsk tsk~ I almost lost my composure."

Stabilize...?

Old Joe, what were you stabilizing back then?

Ryan stroked his chin. "In that case, my plans will have to be moved up."

Port of Misi has been completely captured. These days, Shally has been recruiting the Holy Blood Army, since there are only seven hundred people, and it's time to replenish them.

The major church powers are probably already planning to take action against Port of Misi. Since they're going to fight one or two, they might as well take this opportunity to clear out the church strongholds in Hersola as well.

Anyway, those forces are the same as those in Port of Misi; they already have enough hatred, so we're not afraid of anything more.

With this in mind, Ryan gave Shally the order to attack. Using the teleportation ability of the Chaos Space, Shally could lead the Holy Blood Army to make a round trip between Hersola and Port of Misi within a day.

"Once we take these two cities, the next step should be to attack Lorient... Old Joe, come back sometime. I've received word that the City of Desire will likely attack Port of Misi in the next couple of days. You and they are old rivals, so you handle this."

Being in a foreign country, we really didn't have enough manpower, but luckily we had Old Joe, who was doing the work of three people.

"Okay, give me two more days, I'll completely seduce Nina first."

"..."

You're awesome, you're amazing.

Ryan pursed his lips and turned off the keepsake.

Just then, Sesia suddenly knocked on the door and came in.

"Rider, someone from the Gate of Janus has come to the manor. She says she's here to see you on behalf of the Pope."

"Oh?"

Ryan smiled slightly. Ha~ The old woman finally couldn't hold back anymore.

Chapter 193 New Game Character 'Helen'

When Ryan saw the person who had come looking for him, he knew that Sylvia was truly in a hurry this time.

Her long, flowing blue-gold hair cascaded down her back, and her milky-white robe, trimmed with gold, accentuated her refined and noble air. Her eyebrows and eyelashes were long and delicate, her bright gold eyes sparkled, her skin was fair, and her cherry-red lips were crystal clear.

She sat there, like a white lotus quietly blooming, pure and refined.

Helen Akalis, the original Saintess of Gate of Janus in the game, and Sylvia's most trusted person.

If Lin Qi, the first wife, hadn't completed the trial first, Helen would have been the Saintess of Gate of Janus.

Because she lost her position as Saintess, Helen stayed in the Southern Continent to help the church develop its power. Unfortunately, the major churches in the Southern Continent were quite hostile to the Gate of Janus. Although Helen had Magic Power talent, it was not related to her work ability.

From this perspective, the AFK behavior of Alts is far superior to the problem-solving abilities of most people. Even someone like Shally, who specializes in killing, may not have high emotional intelligence, but she's efficient. And isn't efficiency all that matters?

At that moment, as Ryan entered the reception room, Helen, hearing his footsteps, immediately turned around, her eyes filled with a hint of curiosity as she looked him over.

She was curious about what kind of person could possibly warrant the Pope's urgent contact and personal visit.

On the way here, Helen had done her homework, thoroughly understanding the situation in Port of Misi and all the information about Ryan!

Ryan, male, with a preference for women, is currently a count and Grand Duke duchess in the Augustus Empire.

Of course, these are just superficial identities.

As for what happens behind the scenes, that's quite something.

The fact that the entire Kingdom of Lotte was considered its territory was an honor even the Dukes of the Empire did not possess, not to mention that Ryan was also engaged to the former Queen of Wildea. From a strategic perspective, Empress Augustus seemed to intend to use Ryan to 'guard the borders' and use the Kingdom of Lotte and Wildea as leverage to coerce the Northern Federation.

After all, these two places, one in the west and one in the north, have essentially blocked the Northern Federation's path. If the latter wants to attack Augustus, they must first get past Ryan.

The high-ranking members of Gate of Janus held a meeting to discuss this matter and ultimately unanimously concluded that it was a tactic Empress Vainay to control Grand Magana. Everyone knew that Ryan and Grand Duke Magana were engaged, and currently, one was in the west and the other in the east, requiring them to meet only by a bridge. If Magana dared to act recklessly, wouldn't Ryan's weakness be easily seized by the Empress?

Yes, Helen thought that made a lot of sense.

However, she didn't quite understand the latest information the Pope had given her.

What is the status of Prince of the Arcadia Empire?

A core member of the Primal Church is suspected of having a connection to a witch? The Primal Church actually has witches?

This was one of the tasks the Pope had given her.

Witches, ancient and terrifying beings. Helen kept her eyes on Sesia, who was following Ryan, trying to find some clues about witches in the latter.

"Hello."

She stood up to greet Ryan, "Excuse my intrusion, Sir Ryan... Lord Rider."

Although Helen knew that Rider was Ryan, she didn't intend to expose him; this was leverage! Leverage!

She needs to talk to Ryan about something later, so the identity card is her trump card.

"Hello, from the Gate of Janus?" Ryan sized up the former Saintess for a moment, then raised an eyebrow. "You've got some nerve. Don't you know that all the major church factions have been purged recently?"

"Rider, Your Excellency Ryder. My name is Helen. I am here on His Holiness the Pope's orders to speak with you, and I have no intention of vying for the faith in Port of Misi."

"Oh, Pope Sylvia, what does such a great figure like her want with me?"

Helen glanced at Sesia and said softly, "Rider Ryder, would it be convenient for us to speak privately?"

"This...isn't that a bit inappropriate?" Ryan shrugged. "I don't mind, but Ms. Helen, if word gets out that you're alone with me, it might not be good for your reputation."

"Rider Excellency Ryder, please watch your words." Before Helen could speak, the blond youth in armor beside her said sternly, "Archbishop Helen is the Pope's most trusted advisor."

"Oh, impressive, impressive." Ryan nodded, then said blankly, "But what does that have to do with me? I'm not one of your Gate of Janus members. Besides, what I meant was that it wouldn't look good for Lady Helen, a cardinal, to have private contact with a 'heretic' like me. What are you thinking? You're even more excited than Lady Helen. You don't happen to like her, do you?"

"You!"

"Alright, Lista, you go outside and wait for me."

"Helen!" The blond youth Lista exclaimed excitedly, "This guy is definitely up to no good. You can't talk to him alone. I need to protect you!"

"Oh, oh, oh, so you're protecting him already?" Ryan scoffed. "It's your archbishop who wants to talk to me, making it sound like I'm some kind of special person. If you don't want to talk, fine. Sesia, show him out."

"Wait." Helen glanced at Lista. "You go out first."

"But..."

"Enough, Lista. This mission was personally entrusted to you by the Pope. Do you intend to disobey the Pope's orders?"

"Yes."

Lista glared at Ryan, gritted her teeth, and ultimately said nothing before walking outside.

Ryan curled his lip. This Lista was the leader of the Holy Knights, a proper Seventh Tier Transcendent, yet he was acting like a sycophant.

That's right, Lista is the simp of Saintess Helen, the infamous cuckold in the game.

In Helen's storyline, there is a classic scene where Lista comes to see Helen, and at this moment the protagonist is having an intimate conversation with Helen. In order to avoid being discovered, Helen can only cover her trembling body and endure talking to Lista while the protagonist is vigorously assaulting her. Meanwhile, Lista outside the room is completely unaware of this.

After this battle Lista became famous Empress Online, even to Ryan, who hadn't played that part of the story.

Lista was indeed obsessed with Helen, but in the later part of the game's storyline, after learning the truth, Lista completely turned to the dark side, switching from Janus Path to the Blood Divine Path and even becoming Blood Knight.

However, Lista is now a henchman kept by the Pope and also Helen's sycophant.

"Sesia, you go out and take a look too." Ryan waved his hand. "Keep an eye on that guy. Our Primal Church is not like other places. There are many experts in this manor. If he dies here, the Gate of Janus might use it as an excuse to cause trouble."

"... good."

Sesia glanced at Helen, whose strength had just reached the Sixth Tier and posed little threat. Moreover, Ryan had many life-saving items on him, so if anything happened, she could easily stall for three seconds and then break in.

Sesia left the house.

"Alright, speak now, what does the Pope want with me?" Ryan sat down casually in his chair, picked up his teacup, and said, "Sit down and make yourself at home."

"Thank you." Helen sat up straight. "Rider ...no, I should call you Lord Ryan."

"Oh?" Ryan shrugged. "Whatever you like."

Ryan thought to himself, "If you're happy, you can call me 'Dad'."

He wasn't at all surprised that Helen knew his identity.

Otherwise, there would be no point in him having Lin Qi pass the message to Sylvia.

"Aren't you afraid your identity will be exposed?" Helen asked, puzzled by Ryan's nonchalant attitude. "You must have been hiding your identity in Arcadia, right? You registered as a bishop in the church under the name Rider, which means you don't want anyone to know your true identity. If the Arcadia twins find out you're actually one of Augustus's men, they'll probably kill you, won't they?"

Ryan smiled faintly, "How do you know I'm one of Augustus's men? Couldn't I be a member of the Primal Church, merely infiltrating Augustus?"

Helen didn't say anything.

After all, she wasn't aware of that either.

Did the Primal Church infiltrate Augustus, or is Augustus secretly controlling the Primal...? Understanding Ryan from all angles is the second task the Pope has given her.

"Then I'll still call you Rider here." Helen didn't dwell on the previous question anymore. "Rider, the Pope has received news that the City of Desire and the Hand of Darkness have reached a temporary agreement, and they should be attacking you in the next few days."

"Hmm... the Hand of Darkness has gotten involved too?"

Ryan stroked his chin. The only information he had was that the City of Desire had made a move; he hadn't expected the Rats to be involved as well.

"So, you're telling me all this because the Gate of Janus is going to help us get rid of those people, right?"

"It's not impossible," Helen said with a smirk, "As long as you agree to our conditions."

"What are the conditions?"

"Cooperation, the Primal Church cooperating with the Gate of Janus."

"Ha?"

Ryan was taken aback. "How do we cooperate?"

Helen said, "As you know, the Gate of Janus has always wanted to establish its influence in the Southern Continent, but other churches have always tried to obstruct it. It's difficult for us to gain a foothold in the Southern Continent on our own. The Primal Church, on the other hand, has a profound foundation and a long history. If we can cooperate, I believe taking over the Southern Continent will be a piece of cake."

"Uh-huh?"

Ryan's expression was strange.

Profound cultural heritage? Long-standing tradition?

You believe me when I make things up?

Wait, I see, that old woman was testing me.

If Ryan agrees to cooperate, then after deeper contact, Sylvia will have a way to gradually figure out the situation of the Primal Church.

You claim to have profound knowledge and experience, but apart from a witch K, you have nothing to offer.

Given enough time, they'll definitely see through the deception.

But the Church is fake; the words "Origin" are real, as is Balshatt. Sylvia will definitely think he has obtained some clues about the Creator. The Witch K alone can protect him, but it will be difficult to protect the Church under the attack of Gate of Janus.

Non-cooperation?

Sylvia will definitely think of other ways.

In short, they've got their eyes on it now.