Chapter 318

"That's great!"

Lista's expression brightened.

In this way, there's no need to worry about Helen's safety.

As for other matters, as long as Ryan can't use force, how could Helen possibly get into trouble?

It's impossible that Helen would willingly throw herself at him; that's simply not possible.

"Then, Your Holiness, would it be better if I simply stayed here?"

Since Lista wasn't going to attack him, he wasn't worried anymore. He figured that once Helen finished talking to her, the other party's Eighth Tier transcendent would definitely release him.

Sylvia gave him a brief, indifferent look.

In fact, in Sylvia's heart, Lista's place had come to an end.

Simply put, Lista is very talented, but unfortunately, he's obsessed with romance.

And he still loved Helen.

If Helen were interested in him, that would be fine, but Helen isn't. If Sylvia had to choose between Helen and Lista, she would definitely choose Helen.

Firstly, Helen is an archbishop and has higher talent Lista. Secondly, if Lin Qi is removed by her, Helen can still take over the position of Saintess.

Lista?

His death would only cause some trouble, but there are still a lot of people in Sylvia's faction who are candidates for the Knight Commander.

As the morning sunlight streamed into the room, the dazzling light caused the two people lying in bed to open their eyes almost simultaneously.

The room was a scene of utter devastation, with outerwear and underwear strewn everywhere, and undried liquid residue on the floor and tables.

On the large bed covered with golden silk quilts, the sheets were crumpled together in a mess, and in some places they were stained black from being soaked with liquid.

In the area not covered by the blankets, Helen's long, slender, embroidered legs were slightly bent, revealing an exceptionally soft and sensual side under the sunlight. She leaned against Ryan, her delicate face full of languid comfort. Even though she had woken up, she didn't want to move an inch until the light shining into the room grew brighter. Her eyelashes trembled slightly, and her scattered mind finally focused.

Blood soaked the sheets, and Helen felt a sharp pain in a certain place. She couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. You have to know that she was Sixth Tier peak Supernatural Being. Even if she followed the mage path, her physical fitness was far stronger than that of ordinary people.

That strange pot and the incense burner, under their combined stimulation, almost made Helen lose herself... Wait, the incense burner doesn't seem to have worked? Oh well, it doesn't seem like a big deal.

Anyway, she had already done as the Pope had instructed. Controlling people in this way was not something a Janus Follower should do. Besides, Ryan was very gentle and kind to her, unlike the Pope who only treated her as a pawn.

Helen's thoughts began to wander again, and even she herself was unaware that her thought patterns had been changing without her realizing it.

The incense burner wasn't ineffective; it was effective, and its effect was amplified under the influence of the Pot of Greed. However, it affected her, not Ryan.

However, those affected are often unaware of it, which is the terrifying aspect of the relic that desire has passed through. And when the chosen power of desire uses the relic that desire has passed through, one can only imagine what will happen.

However, Ryan was unaware of this matter. He hadn't even expected that he and Helen would have such a mutual encounter last night. To be fair, they had indeed reached their peak. The Pot of Greed truly lived up to its reputation as a forbidden object; even a Saintess person like Helen had fallen into the trap of becoming a slut.

"Miss Helen, it's getting late, shouldn't we get up?" Seeing Helen lying motionless in his arms, Ryan chuckled, "If we don't get out soon, Mr. Lista might burst in."

"Hmm... Ignore him."

"Even if we ignore him, shouldn't we go back and report to your Pope?"

"You found out?" Helen looked flustered, quickly scrambled to her feet, knelt on the bed, and prostrated herself. "I'm so sorry, Master."

Ryan: "?"

"No, what did you call me?"

"Master, you are my master."

"Wait, Miss Helen, are you joking? You're the Archbishop of the Gate of Janus!"

"That was true before, but not anymore." Helen raised her head, her expression resolute. "It was my master's spurring that brought me to my senses. Before, although I was alive, my existence had no meaning. I gave everything for the power struggles within the church, completely forgetting my mission as a believer, and even following a despicable pope like Sylvia. From today onwards, Helen will no longer obey her orders. I will do whatever my master tells me to do!"

Hiss!

Is this the power of desire through relics? I'm hooked!

The Pope Faction the Pot of Greed, the Mark of Desire, and the Incense Burner instantly transformed Helen, a loyal follower of the Papacy, into Ryan's servant. The effect was so powerful that Ryan almost wondered if he was dreaming.

He probed, "Then if I asked you to betray the Gate of Janus, would you still be willing?"

"Of course, I will announce my departure from the Gate of Janus immediately!"

"No, no, no, that's unnecessary." Ryan's lips curled into a smile. "Since you're truly following me, then stay at the Gate of Janus. I need you as an inside man; I'll need your help with many things in the future."

Helen nodded. "Don't worry, Master, I'll do whatever it takes to get things done for you."

"Hmm... it's good, it's good."

Ryan was unsure of Helen's current state. Was she faking it? No, Helen didn't seem like she had the acting skills. But she didn't appear to be a completely lost puppet either. She even knew she was 'deeply sinful' and wanted to repent. Could the power of the relic really be this powerful? This completely changed a person's worldview.

But it's all good. With Helen, Sylvia's most trusted confidante, around, things will be much easier inside the Gate of Janus. At least the first wife won't have to fight alone anymore.

However, the play had to continue, and Helen's identity couldn't be revealed, so Ryan quickly told Helen to get up and put on her clothes.

Although Helen had many marks left by Ryan, they were all covered by her clothes. After a quick wash, the two went downstairs and saw Adele and the witch K sitting in the dining room having dinner.

"Where's Sesia? And where's Lista?" Ryan asked.

Adele rolled her eyes. "How dare you ask? After a whole night of this, Sesia had to go out, and that poor Lista... well, he's locked up by K."

Witch K glanced at Helen but didn't ask any further questions. She had no interest in Helen, and as the Chosen of the Gods of Balshatt, Ryan could be completely trusted.

So she waved her hand and removed the seal on the space, and the next second Lista's figure appeared out of thin air.

"Hmm? She's out... Helen!"

Lista's face lit up with joy when he saw Helen. "Are you alright?"

Helen nodded calmly. "I'm fine. Let's go, it's time to go back."

"Okay, let's go back."

Although he had many questions in his mind, Lista's biggest wish right now was to get Helen away from this place of trouble as soon as possible. But when he and Helen walked out of the house, he realized that it was already daytime!

There is no concept of time within the sealed space. He himself did not know how much time had passed, and because the passage of time was not uniform in some places, Lista thought that only three or four hours had passed.

"Helen, you talked with Ryan all night?"

"Yes, what's wrong?"

"N-nothing."

Seeing Helen's calm face, Lista felt relieved. Nothing strange should have happened last night, after all, it was a task assigned by His Holiness the Pope, and perhaps it was delayed by other matters.

If something were really wrong, Helen should have told him long ago.

Lista's mood brightened again at this thought. Now all he wanted was to finish his mission here as soon as possible and find the best opportunity to confess his feelings to Helen!

"You've won Helen over?"

Inside the room, Adele asked casually.

"I suppose so. She heeded Balshatt's teachings and decided to turn over a new leaf and work for us from now on," Ryan chuckled. "From now on, we also have an inside man for the Gate of Janus."

"Really?" Witch K asked thoughtfully. "You took her to see the Creator?"

I guess so.

Ryan thought to himself that she had seen him and even had a deep conversation with him, so he must have received some guidance from her.

"So what's the next step? We've already taken Port of Misi, and now many churches in the Southern Continent should be starting to be wary of us," Adele asked.

"Will being vigilant be of any use? This is just the beginning." Ryan smirked. "K, you continue searching for the temple's whereabouts. Adele, from today onwards, we need to accelerate our expansion. Jonathan has already taken Hersola. Within a month, using Port of Misi and Hersola as our bases, we will swiftly conquer Lorient!"

Chapter 200 Returning to Augustus, Reuniting with Grand Duke Magana

Ryan is the type to act on his impulses.

What feasibility plan do we need to take over the mere Kingdom of Loente? Are you kidding me? Don't forget about our Second Wife Shally, who's always on standby.

On the same day that he had taken down Helen, Ryan immediately ordered Shally to lead a team to infiltrate Hersola and wipe out all the church forces inside overnight.

The major church powers within the Kingdom of Loente were focused on Port of Misi and had no idea that Hersola would suddenly explode. By the time they realized what was happening, it was too late.

After the Holy Blood Army's massive purge, they vanished without a trace. No one knew what kind of powerful army the Primal Church controlled, but they knew that the landscape of the Southern Continent was about to change.

Ryan entrusted the development of Hersola to Jonathan. That old guy was very good at leading the development of the Burning Covenant back then, so we can't let him take the opportunity to slack off. Old Joe, you can't rest yet!

Meanwhile, the Church intensified its efforts to promote the faith in Balshatt, and the existence of the True Creator Balshatt began to be known by more and more people.

Of course, those church members who already had faith didn't believe in any creator. Whose god isn't a creator? If we're talking about qualifications, Janus should be the most deserving one on the Rhea Continent right now.

After all, the core of the struggle for faith is deception. Churches can fight each other, but when it comes to winning over believers, threats of murder are useless; you have to deceive them.

The biggest advantage Ryan had over other churches was that he could personally impersonate a god to deceive people, while the gods of other churches could never actually appear.

Verifying whether a person truly believes in the Creator is quite simple: just see if he can project stars onto the Misty Space. Relying on this method, the Primal Church's growth momentum will be unstoppable in the next half month!

Other churches are extremely selective in recruiting members, especially those with extraordinary connections, for fear of accidentally recruiting traitors from rival churches. But the Primal Church doesn't need to do that at all!

At first, it's naturally impossible to map the stars, but if those who claim to swear to follow the Creator to the death can't even do that, then there's definitely something wrong with them. Why keep such people around?

Ryan discovered that some truly devout believers, who changed their circumstances with the help of the church, could easily reflect the stars. Although the brightness reflected by ordinary people was very weak and the power of faith they provided was limited, their sheer numbers made up for it.

Ryan understood the principle that quantitative change leads to qualitative change.

Even he hadn't expected that in just half a month, his strength would reach the peak of the fifth rank, and he was only one step away from breaking through again with the Advancement Fragment.

Meanwhile, the latest Advancement Fragment, Witch K, also had a clue. She found the exact location of the Sun God. However, when Ryan followed her there, he discovered that he had already been there.

"Isn't this the Temple of the Moon?"

Ryan was stunned.

Isn't this the place where he and Lin Qi first came from?

They found a relic of the Moon Goddess here, which is why they determined it belonged to the Moon Goddess Temple.

"This is the Sun God, how could it be the Temple of the Moon God?" Witch K looked at Ryan and asked in confusion, "Have you been here before?"

"They came by, and they took everything."

"Is that so? The sun and the moon goddess are sisters. Perhaps some information led you to misjudge the situation. What a pity."

The Sun God is easy to find, unlike the Temple of the God of Death, where even the location is unclear.

"Next up are Order, Time and Space, Blood God, the Unpredictable, Desire, and Chaos," Witch K said, frowning. "I have a lead on the God of Order; I know a Gilded Merchant who mentioned it to me before. As for the others, I don't have any leads for now."

"There should only be two: order and spacetime," Ryan said.

"Why? Isn't it said that all gods have it?"

Because I'm already at rank 5... Ryan was just guessing. If we include the two Advancement Fragment of Order and Janus, he could break through to rank 7. But if we also include the Four Great Outer Gods, it would exceed the theoretical rank limit.

Moreover, the realm above the seventh rank is the domain of gods, Ryan felt that he wouldn't need Advancement Fragment as much as before, and the focus should be on the Misty Space.

Those stars seemed to be symbols of his power. Intuition told Ryan that to return to the level of the Creator, he had to light up all the stars.

However, this is somewhat difficult to grasp, since some people simply don't believe in you, so what can you do? Ryan still needs to explore the specifics, and he should be able to sense it when he truly steps into the realm of gods.

Things will work themselves out when they reach the bridge.

Meanwhile, at Gate of Janus, Ryan already knew the situation; the problem now lay in the territory of the God of Order.

"Then I'll go find clues about the God of Order!"

Among the many gods, the God of Order is the most unique. His faith is limited to the Gilded Merchant Group, but in reality, the God of Order never bestows favors upon anyone. Therefore, the Gilded Merchant's faith in the God of Order is merely wishful thinking.

Even in sacrificial rituals, one can gain something, whether it be power or relics, from the rituals of other gods, but order does not bestow such a thing.

Some say this is a manifestation of order, that order exists in all things, and that the power of the gods would disrupt the balance of this world, so the God of Order would not do such a thing on their own initiative.

Because of its extreme mystery, information about the God of Order is limited to rumors, which gives you an idea of how difficult it is to build the God of Order.

Ryan wasn't in a hurry. Since he was back in Augustus, he planned to take the opportunity to check on the situation in the Northern Continent.

Although he had been in the Southern Continent for many days, Ryan was keeping a close eye on the situation in other places, especially in the Western Territory. The Western Barbarians had been completely subdued by the Grand Duke, Vainay took the opportunity to extend an olive branch to them. Taking advantage of the fact that everyone knew about her discord with Grand Duke Magana, she promised to open a trade market between the Great Plains and Augustus if the Western Barbarians were willing to submit.

This is a real and tangible benefit.

As long as they can trade for food and daily necessities, the Western Barbarians will no longer need to rely on plunder. Especially after experiencing this bloody war, they know that with the Iron Blood Army stationed in the Western Territory, life will only become more and more difficult in the future.

If the Western Barbarians refuse, then in a few years they will only face a slow death.

Therefore, they had no choice but to submit.

Of course, the path of submission is not easy, mainly because there are too many Western barbarian tribes and their opinions are not unified at all.