Chapter 322
If outsiders were to see Pope Janus, so high and mighty, being so humble, they would be absolutely shocked.
Sylvia didn't see anything wrong with it.
Pilgrims have never disappeared from ancient times to the present. In fact, every year countless pilgrims from all over the world travel to St. Gros Island to pay homage to Janus. Now she has simply changed her perspective, from a observer to a pilgrim.
The road wasn't long, but it took Sylvia a full hour to walk there until she reached the palace. The mottled, dark gold doors slowly opened, letting out a cool, refreshing atmosphere.
In a brief moment, Sylvia's gaze fell upon a golden throne directly above the palace, upon which sat a figure shrouded in mist, obscured from view.
Sylvia walked with her head down to the center of the palace, then knelt down respectfully.
"Supreme Creator, your devout servant Sylvia pays homage to you."
A humble voice echoed through the palace. Sylvia's heart pounded. She had succeeded. She had successfully stood before the Creator. Now, she would do everything in her power to gain divine authority.
If she succeeds, she will become the new goddess of the Rhea Continent!
However, the figure on the throne did not answer her. The silent palace was cold and oppressive, so quiet that Sylvia could even hear her own heartbeat. She dared not speak again, and even her breathing became cautious.
What's going on? Why isn't the Creator responding to me? Did I say something wrong?
Quiet.
A stifling silence.
This silence was incredibly unsettling for Sylvia; she was practically going crazy.
Just as she hesitated whether to speak again, the mental tug returned, and everything before her suddenly collapsed. The palace crumbled, the mist dissipated, and her vision was plunged into endless darkness. When she came to her senses, she was already back in her room.
"No... no--"
Sylvia was stunned for a moment, unable to accept this outcome. The Creator had banished her without saying a word?
"No, impossible! How could this be? Does the Creator refuse to grant me power? Am I not qualified? Was I not chosen? This is impossible... this is impossible..."
Sylvia muttered to herself, her heart churning with uncontrollable turmoil. This was the moment she had been most looking forward to, yet it had ended in the most incomprehensible way.
A gift? The power of the gods?
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
"Calm down, Sylvia. Perhaps... perhaps there's another meaning behind this."
Sylvia cast a calming spell on herself, forcing herself to calm down.
"If the Creator didn't want to grant me power or approve of me, He shouldn't have seen me in the first place. His seeing me is an approval; I am the chosen one. So why did the Creator send me out without saying anything? If it wasn't a rejection, then was it something He couldn't say? Or was there some reason why I couldn't stay there too long? What greater meaning is He trying to convey to me through this brief meeting?"
Sylvia calmly pondered.
The more she thought about it, the more likely it seemed!
If the gods do not approve of you, they will not listen to your prayers, much less grant you an audience.
Surely the Creator couldn't have been playing a trick on her?
Sylvia never underestimated herself, but she also knew that the Creator would disdain doing such a thing.
So, now that they've met, it means the Creator has approved of her as a believer!
She has even been chosen by the gods.
What is the Creator conveying to her in this way?
"Is He telling me that He can't do something for the time being? Or does He need my help...? Yes, He wouldn't contact me for no reason; He must want me to do something. But what exactly is it? Damn it, I'm too nervous; I might have missed some important information."
Sylvia was extremely annoyed.
If she had another chance, she would definitely calm down and observe carefully.
"... Wait, perhaps what the Primal Church is doing now is what the Creator wants me to do? The Primordial Church has been dormant for so many years, and its sudden activity must mean it has received a divine message from the Creator."
"Ryan!" Sylvia exclaimed, as if grasping the key point instantly. "According to the information Helen provided, although Adele is the official head of the Primal Church, Adele actually listens to Ryan as well. Furthermore, Adele even revealed to Helen that Ryan is the Church's Holy Son!"
This is an open secret!
Sylvia's eyes lit up.
"Once I meet with Ryan, I should be able to confirm my guess. Luckily, I received a message from Helen, otherwise I might have missed him... That makes sense, Janus's sudden message to Lin Qi about wanting to see Ryan might also be related to this matter."
Sylvia suddenly felt that many things she couldn't understand before suddenly became clear.
She had been puzzled by Ryan's actions—first Augustus, then Arcadia, and now his appearance within the Primal Church of the Southern Continent. Upon reflection, she realized he was secretly accumulating power for the Primal Church's rise.
The rise of the Primal Church was naturally to provide faith for the Creator. Perhaps Janus sought out Ryan for this very reason, since the largest gathering of faith across the entire Rhea Continent is now the Gate of Janus.
"The Creator needs faith, that much is certain. If I can find a way to convert the faith in the Gate of Janus into faith in Balshatt, then that merit should be enough for Him to grant me Divine Authority, right?"
"Besides, Janus probably hasn't seen it either... although it might have some objections, but it wouldn't matter anyway."
Janus's fate was long unknown, a fact confirmed by Sylvia through countless experiments. This was true not only for Janus but for all the gods.
Therefore, this method is absolutely feasible!
"Ryan, I must see Ryan!"
As his consciousness returned from the depths of the Misty Space, Ryan slowly opened his eyes and returned to his room.
He pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a soft sigh.
"Phew! I wonder how well it will work."
Staying in the Misty Space for so long took a toll on his spirit, but fortunately, he managed to do most of what he wanted to do in the end.
The conflict between Sesia and Elvian has been temporarily resolved. After that, all that's left is to deal with the Twin Empress. Ryan is confident about this. As for Kachina, Kachia's now addicted to training with him, and her level of trust in him is higher than ever before.
But the most crucial one is Sylvia.
Pope Janus came to them of his own accord, and Ryan certainly wasn't going to let him get away with it.
He had originally planned to pretend to be the creator, show off, and say a few words to Sylvia.
But they soon realized that keeping silent was the biggest problem.
Have you ever seen a god talk to an ant?
The reason for the existence of divine interpretation is essentially that God cannot easily meet with people, much less directly tell anyone what He wants to do. Therefore, people with specific positions are needed to carry out and interpret divine messages.
So Ryan changed his approach on the spot, just pretending to be cool and not saying anything, leaving the rest to Sylvia to figure out.
If Sylvia didn't understand, then so be it. Rather than risk being exposed, he preferred to achieve his goal under the premise of absolute safety, since his identity as the creator was his greatest asset at the moment.
Thinking of this, Ryan immediately sent a magical message to Helen, asking her to come over and check things out first, hoping that Sylvia might come looking for her.
However, Ryan was wrong this time. Although Sylvia did indeed use her imagination to figure out many things as he had hoped, she did not go to Helen immediately, but instead went to Lin Qi.
He also told Lin Qi about Janus's oracle, instructing Lin Qi to take Ryan to St. Gero City.
This move truly caught Ryan off guard, because Sylvia not only delivered the message, but also gave a genuine divine oracle!
As the Saintess of Janus, Lin Qi was certain that the divine oracle was genuine, meaning that Janus did indeed want her to take Ryan to St. Gero City.
"Janus wants to see me? Really?"
Ryan was a little puzzled.
To be honest, he had a pretty good impression of Janus. Although he had never met him, he had come across Janus's past images while acquiring the Advancement Fragment. And he had to admit that the Janus Ritual was indeed quite useful.
All indications suggest that Janus was indeed a loyal follower of Balshatt.
The problem is, if he goes to St. Gero City now, his original plan to lure Sylvia away from her homeland will not work, since Sylvia will definitely stay there if he goes to the headquarters of Gate of Janus.
"If I bring Witch K along, there shouldn't be any danger. Besides, my secret identity is still that of Holy Son of the Primal Church. If Sylvia understands this, she wouldn't harm me. On the contrary, if she understands Lord Balshatt's carelessness, she should take the initiative to befriend me."
"Shall we give it a try?"
Ryan was also curious about why Janus had sought him out.
Moreover, now that the gods are silent, he is eager to find out what happened in the last era.
The danger lies in the fact that the timing of this oracle's appearance might be too coincidental. He had just fooled Sylvia in the Misty Space, and yet the latter immediately received Janus's oracle?
Why wasn't the oracle given directly to Lin Qi?
Although Sylvia holds a higher position in the church than Lin Qi, it is the Saintess's duty to deliver divine pronouncements; there is a clear division of labor.
After all, God doesn't care who the pope is, but He does care who listens to His divine pronouncements.
So, there's a problem!
"Speaking of which, even if the oracle is true, why should I go to see Janus? If anyone should be seeing someone, it should be Janus who comes to see me."
Ryan muttered to himself, finally deciding to play it safe. As long as he didn't do anything reckless, he wouldn't die. At this point, all he had to do was follow the plan step by step.
However, the procedure still had to be followed. His first wife, Lin Qi, came to see him that day, but he refused her harshly. Finally, Lin Qi went back to report to Sylvia.
To Ryan's surprise, Sylvia didn't say anything. Instead, the next day, in the name of the Gate of Janus, she extended invitations to all the major powers on the Rhea Continent to hold a continent-wide meeting, ostensibly to 'stabilize the situation in the Southern Continent '.
As a core figure in the Primal Church and the instigator of the chaos in the Southern Continent, Ryan should theoretically also attend the meeting.
He knew that this was most likely a setup by Sylvia to arrange a meeting with him.
Ryan wasn't worried. As long as he wasn't going to St. Gero City, meeting the Grand Pope wouldn't be a problem. The Creator needed to remain silent, but he didn't have to. It wasn't impossible that he could persuade him with his silver tongue... right?
The question is, in what capacity should he go?
Count of Augustus, Prince of Arcadia, or the Holy Son of the Primal Church?
A relative passed away, updates are disorganized, I'll try to keep things as they are...
Chapter 203 Meeting Janus
Arcadia Empire
Inside the twins' room in the imperial city.
"... It's truly rare that the Pope would actually take the initiative to convene a continental conference? Could the situation in the Southern Continent have become that serious?"
Kachia looked at the invitation in her hand and said with great interest.
On the other side, Kachina, leaning against the headboard reading a book, didn't move her eyelids. She said, "How many of the things the Gate of Janus does are good? Ha~ They only pretend to be holy in front of their believers; secretly they're no different from any other organization vying for power. Oh, right..."
Suddenly remembering something, she looked up and asked, "Was the place Rider went to the Primal Church?"
"According to the news from Sethia, Ryder has reached a cooperation with the Primitive Church. Well..." Kachia pondered for a moment, "During this period, the Primitive Church has risen in the Southern Continent... No, it should have been dormant for many years and directly broke the entire Southern Continent. Maybe this is what Pope Silvia is worried about."
Which one?
"The original faith, that legendary creator, Balshatt."
"Tch~" Kachina chuckled lazily, "Do you believe that? Several creators pop up every year in that Southern Continent. Wasn't there a 'sage' who was all the rage not long ago? He was a creator too."
"This time is different. The Primal Church is simply too powerful. I'm certain they are an ancient organization that has existed for at least a thousand years. Furthermore, I believe Rider's judgment. Even if the True Creator of the Primordial Church isn't real, the Primordial Church's power is real. And powerful strength is the foundation of faith. It's like we don't believe Janus is the Creation God, but so what? The Gate of Janus has the power to make people believe."
"So you think the Primal Church can become the second Gate of Janus?" Kachina tilted her head, her bright eyes sparkling. "That might be Rider's plan. If they can completely break the church structure of the Rhea Continent, then the Empire's opportunity will come."
"That's what I think too."
Kachia nodded.
The fragmentation of church power greatly limited the empire's development. The Southern Continent was a gathering place for the church, and if there was turmoil there, the church power in the eastern and northern continents would also be put on the defensive.
If we can destroy the Southern Continent, then we won't have to worry about the other places.
At that time, believers who have lost their support will automatically flock to the countries that represent those gods. Once these forces are absorbed, the empire's strength will also increase rapidly.
From this perspective, they would definitely support Ryan's actions.
However, Kachia is very concerned about Gate of Janus's ideas. If the latter does not want to reshuffle the deck, then the power structure of the Church cannot be broken.
Therefore, it was necessary for them to attend this continental conference; at the very least, they needed to figure out Sylvia's true thoughts.
The same situation is occurring among other forces on the mainland.
Those invited by Sylvia to this meeting were all the 'righteous' forces on the continent. Apart from imperial organizations like Augustus that had some influence, the rest were church forces representing the faith of the true gods, such as the Ring of Abundance, the Hall of Scorching Sun, and the Temple of the Moon.
As for the Gilded Merchant who represent order, they have no interest in this power struggle. Moreover, these Gilded Merchant travel all over the continent and are good friends with everyone, so no one would actively target them.
Although the Primal Church is not a 'true god' faction, it is also on the invitation list due to the recent situation in the Southern Continent.
According to Helen, Ryan knew that one of Sylvia's purposes in holding this so-called continental conference was to find him. Although she chose the location of the conference in the Southern Continent to avoid Ryan's suspicion, she also secretly had Helen prepare to abduct Ryan at any time.
At that point, Sylvia will decide what to do, depending on the situation; she might even forcibly abduct Ryan.