Chapter 323
... Yes, Helen told Ryan all of these things without holding anything back.
Clearly, after being summoned by the Creator last time, Sylvia was getting anxious and was now eager to find out about the Creator's situation.
However, Ryan suddenly realized that he didn't seem to need to attend the meeting.
Anyway, Augustus and the Northern Federation are his, and Arcadia, well, the twins have been seduced. The Primal Church can be handled by Adele, since she is the nominal leader.
In this situation, whether he goes or not doesn't make much difference; the key is Sylvia's attitude.
This could perhaps be addressed from other angles, but for now, Ryan's idea is to simply steal a chicken.
After confirming with Helen that Sylvia had already departed for the Southern Continent, he immediately summoned the witch K and instructed her to open the Chaos Space to travel to St. Gero City and strike at its heart.
"... What are you doing here?"
The two appeared in a secluded alley in the St. Gero City.
The massive city-state was surrounded by a defensive barrier, but to Witch K, it made no difference.
"I've received information that what we're looking for should be inside the Gate of Janus headquarters," Ryan said.
The two walked out of the alley and onto the main street.
St. Gero City, as the largest and most prosperous city-state on the Rhea Continent, has virtually no slums. The entire city's streets and alleys are neat and clean, with gray-white cement paving the ground. The houses are arranged in a staggered pattern, mainly in red and white tones, with rows of bay windows facing the street. The street where Ryan was located was lined with rows of residential houses. In Augustus, places like this would mostly be inhabited by the poor lower classes, but here there was no trace of poverty.
The people entering and leaving the row houses were also dressed smartly and neatly. The men wore suits, top hats, and carried canes, looking every bit the gentleman. The women wore long dresses and veils, their postures elegant.
"Tsk~ The life of the rich."
Ryan curled his lip. St. Gero City is not a place that just anyone can enter. In addition to being Janus Follower, one also needs to have made certain contributions to the church.
Even so, to live here stably in the long term, one must continuously contribute to the church every year.
And this power is mostly acquired by exchanging money.
The St. Gero City provides different treatment to each person based on their level of contribution, roughly dividing people into different classes. However, even the lowest class of people enjoys far better living conditions here than outside.
The priests in the Church can truly soothe people's hearts and heal diseases. Through various auxiliary magical effects, they can help people with physical and mental illnesses recover, or make people stronger through blessings. These benefits alone are enough to drive wealthy merchants and nobles crazy.
It must be said that St. Gero City was indeed the first city on the continent to promote and integrate supernatural powers into society. However, this would be impossible to achieve elsewhere. First, there are few Supernatural Being, and second, their professions don't match. You can't expect a Supernatural Being with an assassin profession to save someone, can you? He would only provide physical assistance and send the person straight to reincarnation to start over.
Furthermore, St. Gero City has a strict management system, and with stable order, it is impossible for supernatural forces to get out of control.
"Is there anything here worth noting?" Witch K didn't seem to care much. Unlike Ryan, she didn't have the mindset of a manager. She was more concerned about the news about the Advancement Fragment.
"We need to go inside, right? Is your information accurate? The Gate of Janus might indeed contain a main temple, but this place is too big, and it's guarded everywhere. If we're discovered, it'll be terrible."
Even as an Eighth Tier Supernatural Being, Witch K wouldn't dare to casually enter the Gate of Janus headquarters. After all, there were still a large number of high-ranking archbishops there, and some of the rituals brought divine power. With the blessing of the ritual power, it would be very dangerous for her to take Ryan alone.
"Don't worry, we don't necessarily have to force our way in."
Ryan smirked and, under the witch K's questioning gaze, pulled out the badge symbolizing Honorary Bishop.
"How do you have everything?" Witch K was taken aback. "The bishop of the Gate of Janus?"
"Try it first, and if it doesn't work, try another one."
The bishop's authority is considerable; if all else fails, we can use Lin Qi's identity token— the Saintess Maiden's most trusted confidant... oops, her most important minister—she should be fine outside the headquarters.
The two chatted as they walked toward the headquarters palace, with Ryan carefully observing the surroundings. Although St. Gero City was a paradise for the wealthy and powerful, its management system still had many aspects worth learning from.
Especially when extraordinary powers are truly integrated into the lives of ordinary people, isn't that far more meaningful than using them for fighting and killing each other over beliefs?
However, all of this is predicated on the resolution of the conflict over faith. Directly annihilating all churches is unrealistic. Therefore, Ryan has a preliminary idea: to establish a religious alliance led by the Primal Church, adopting a management model similar to that of the Empire. All major churches would be member states of the alliance, with faith being managed in a unified manner and cooperation rather than combat.
To achieve this, his status as the creator must first have sufficient influence, and secondly, he must significantly weaken the power of the major churches; otherwise, why would they listen to him when they are so powerful?
Ultimately, force comes first, then diplomacy; only through war can unification be achieved.
"Halt! This is the headquarters of Gate of Janus. Please pray at the various Church."
As soon as Ryan reached the gate in front of the headquarters palace, he was immediately stopped by the guarding paladins.
"I am Bishop Ryan, this is my identity."
Ryan took out the badge.
The paladin bowed to him and then immediately let him pass.
No verification?... Ryan was wondering about this when he encountered another checkpoint not far away. As usual, he took out his badge, but this time the guard made him wait outside to verify his identity.
"This is your first time at headquarters; I need to verify your bishop status."
The guard provided a reasonable explanation.
It took about ten minutes to confirm the identity.
Ryan didn't know how Janus's identity records were kept. Logically, without a computer, it was impossible to directly enter a name to search. However, the magical world also had other unexpected methods, such as the badges themselves having some special settings.
Once they attacked the headquarters palace, their view suddenly opened up. It was much larger inside than it appeared from the outside. The first floor was a huge hollow design, with Statue of Janus placed in the very center, surrounded by four smaller statues, which were said to be Janus's four guardians.
At this moment, there was a group of people worshipping in front of the statue. Worship required queuing and could only be done in designated areas. Anyone who attempted to commit an offense would be immediately taken away by the patrolling paladins.
Ryan saw many ordinary people, but even they were all wealthy and powerful. Their clothes were simple in color, mainly white, as a sign of respect for the gods, but the fabric was clearly very expensive.
On the left was the 'Contribution Area', the overall structure of which reminded Ryan of a bank's office. The staff responsible for reception were registering those who came from the city to make contributions. Ryan saw someone hand over a large bag of gold coins and receive a stack of 'contribution currency' from the staff.
The so-called contribution currency is a product of the unique monetary system of St. Gero City. It can only be used within the city. People living here need to pay a certain amount of contribution currency every month. This currency is also required to go to the Church to pray.
The method of exchanging currency is through hard currencies such as gold, silver, and copper; Gate of Janus does not accept currencies issued by other countries.
There are quite a few people queuing up to make contributions, and the amount received each day is probably an astronomical figure. Gate of Janus has been reaping wealth in this way for so many years, it's hard to imagine how much wealth it has accumulated.
As for why it must be gold, silver, or copper, firstly, these are common to the continent, and secondly, these metals can also be used in alchemy and rituals, and are considered consumables.
The area on the right is the prayer area, which is quite large and divided into two sections.
"It's like a trading market!" Witch K noticed the display cases in the prayer area, where many people were browsing and looking for what they wanted.
Ryan glanced at them and found that most of the items were extraordinary materials, and a large portion were completed talismans. These items, imbued with extraordinary power, were made into various ornaments, such as necklaces and bracelets. Although they were not relics, they still possessed extraordinary power and provided excellent protection for the user.
Of course, from a professional's perspective, these things are just the lowest level of extraordinary items, only suitable for ordinary people, yet their prices are ridiculously high!
These items need to be purchased with Contribution Points. One Contribution Points costs ten gold coins, and a regular 'possession talisman' actually costs twenty Contribution Points!
Ryan swore that it wouldn't cost him more than two gold coins to make such a thing.
How incredibly profitable is this?!
Even so, the trading area was packed with people, and countless items were sold.
The Gate of Janus does not call this behavior a transaction, but rather a prayer, in which one prays for divine protection with mundane things, and in return, those things are 'extraordinary items' imbued with divine power.
"Have these people lost their minds?" Witch K's lips twitched. "Spending so much money to buy something that's completely useless."
With her discerning eye, how could she not see that most of these extraordinary items only had the effect of calming the mind and focusing the spirit, a few could bring good fortune and ward off evil, and only one or two could release extraordinary power to protect the user, but their prices were all astonishingly high.
"The price from 0 to 1 is often the most expensive." Ryan shrugged. "For ordinary people, extraordinary power is something they can never possess in their lifetime, so it's worth it no matter how expensive it is. After all, money is essentially just a string of numbers to some people, but if they have extraordinary power, things will be different."
"Heh~ The headquarters of Gate of Janus, right under the noses of the gods." Witch K scoffed. "As expected of the number one church power on the continent."
Ryan thought to himself that all God wanted was faith; unless they were really that idle, they wouldn't care about such trivial matters.
Of course, not many churches can be as blatant as the Gate of Janus. It's because they have so much power. If you're powerful, you have a voice, and you can turn white into black.
Ryan continued walking through the two areas. Directly ahead was the path leading to the inner palace, which was only accessible to church members.
After revealing his bishop's identity, he continued until he reached a crossroads before stopping.
"The path ahead leads to the Temple of Janus, but only those of the Saintess and Archbishop level can enter. To the left is the activity area for the main members of the church, and to the right is Chaos Channel leading to some Inner World spaces, which is the entrance to the Inner World the Gate of Janus has been suppressing for many years."
Ryan stopped, pretending to chat with the witch K, while keeping an eye on the people walking by.
"How do you know so much?" Witch K found it strange. Janus headquarters was too big. Every palace and every building had many intersections. If it were someone entering for the first time, they would most likely get lost. But Ryan acted like he was coming home.
"If I didn't even know the way, would I be asking for trouble by coming here?" You're kidding, what do you think my first wife does all day?
"So? Can we go straight in?" Ryan asked the witch K.
The latter pondered for a moment, because there were too many defensive barriers here, and they could be triggered if one was not careful, so she did not dare to try rashly.
Although she had successfully arrived here, she could clearly feel the Magic Power fluctuations of the barrier further ahead, and they were very strong. She was confident that she could force her way through, but sneaking in would be difficult, since her profession did not excel in stealth.
Well, if we sneak in and kill them, that's a different story.
"There's no other way then, we'll have to call someone to lead the way."
Ryan didn't want to cause trouble.
"Who are you calling?"
"Saintess Janus, Lin Qi"
"???"
The distance from St. Gero City to Port of Misi wasn't far. Using the Janus Ritual for teleportation, Lin Qi quickly returned to headquarters and arrived smoothly in front of Ryan and the other person.
When Witch K saw Lin Qi appear, she fell silent. Although Lin Qi had been in the Southern Continent for several days, she had not revealed her identity or itinerary; only those inside the Gate of Janus knew about it.
"You... know each other?" Witch K couldn't help but ask.
"We should say our relationship is pretty good." Ryan waved his hand. "There's no time to explain. If Sylvia gets the news, it'll be troublesome. We need to act quickly."
Witch K glanced at Lin Qi, who had led the way without saying a word, and then immediately thought of how Ryan had overcome all obstacles on the way here, becoming Grand Duke and then a King. Now, there was only one more Saintess. Thinking about it, it wasn't strange at all.
With Lin Qi leading the way, the rest of the operation became much easier.
However, Lin Qi's appearance still attracted a lot of attention. Ryan knew that this news would probably reach Sylvia's ears soon, since the open and covert struggles between the Saintess Faction and the Pope Faction within the church were nothing new.
This was also why he hadn't wanted Lin Qi to lead the way.
But now it's all down to the last minute. It's either Sylvia or Lin Qi; the choice is obvious.
About five minutes later, the three arrived at a huge platinum door.
This is the only way to reach the entrance to the Temple of Janus.
However, there were two paladins guarding the entrance.
"Open the door," Lin Qi said to the paladin.
"Saintess." One of the paladins glanced at Ryan and the witch K and said respectfully, "His Holiness the Pope has decreed that no one is allowed to enter the Trial Space during this period without her permission."
"The Pope's orders are orders, but mine aren't?" Lin Qi said coldly. "I bear the mission of a divine decree. Even the Pope cannot stop me from entering the Trial Space. Do you dare to stop me?"
"This..."
The two paladins exchanged a glance.
The Saintess needs to interpret oracles. Without an oracle, she certainly wouldn't dare to challenge the Pope, but if there is an oracle, then on the surface, the oracle will take precedence.
Therefore, the position of Saintess is very special.
"The Saintess can go in, but the two of them can't."
"Is this also the Pope's intention?"
"Yes, please don't make things difficult for me, Saintess..."
Snap
Witch K suddenly snapped her fingers.
Ryan only sensed a fluctuation of Magic Power, and the next second he saw the paladin blocking their way suddenly freeze in place, without any reaction.
He was taken aback. "K, what did you do?"
"It's nothing, just temporarily taking their souls. Don't worry, they won't die." Witch K chuckled. "Let's go, didn't you say you were in a hurry?"
"Yeah... that's true."
The so-called "infiltration" means sneaking in and eliminating everyone.
Fortunately, they were just two ordinary soldiers, so it wouldn't cause any major problems. It seems that Sylvia has already started to be wary of Lin Qi. In that case, let's just ignore everything else and finish this quickly.
The heavy door was slowly pushed open with a dull, metallic sound. In the dim space, what appeared before Ryan was a perpetually rotating spatial vortex, from which wisps of chaotic energy emanated.
Lin Qi walked to the entrance and silently chanted an incantation. As the power of the spell spread out, the Mana Shield surrounding the spatial vortex was also successfully removed.
"I'll keep watch outside."
The witch said.
Just in case, it would be safer for her to stay outside; after all, there wouldn't be much point in going in—as long as this Saintess Janus didn't betray them... Witch K thought to herself, the devout Janus Follower is about to take the Holy Son of Balshatt to search for ancient relics.
Ryan nodded, took a deep breath, and then stepped into the vortex.