Seated beside Baha'u'llah, Valenshield wore a look of iron resolve, his right hand clenched into a tight fist upon which a soft milky-white glow flowed serenely—his fury at the blasphemous dark mage Lucian Evans was plainly evident.
Seeing the reactions of the two, Philibert, the Cardinal with his thick white beard, smiled and handed over another set of briefs: "Baha'u'llah, Valenshield, what you saw was the first day's briefing. Here are the second and third days'. There is no need to worry so much about Lucian Evans—it's merely the artificial synthesis of urea. Surely you don't believe that a substance found in excrement and other filthy matter could be a living substance?"
After successive popes had modified the Divine Arts, the members of the College of Cardinals could more or less make sense of Archanist papers.
Baha'u'llah, the red-haired giant whose rough appearance resembled that of a titan, took the briefings from Philibert with a puzzled look and began reading carefully. They were filled with discussions on the definition of urea and debates on the Doctrine of Human Vitality. The necromancers' arguments had clearly gained the upper hand, while the elemental-specialist Archanists had been unable to produce more compelling, reliable evidence.
"This is not as serious as we imagined—it is the Lord's protection." Philibert drew a cross over his chest.
Baha'u'llah, the first to finish reading, nodded as well: "In truth, urea—filthy beyond compare—should never have been classified as God's gift. We should update the definition in the Holy Scripture's chapter on the Doctrine of Divine Bestowal of Life as soon as possible."
"Then there is no need to risk sending devout Night Watch members willing to sacrifice everything for the Lord's glory to eliminate Lucian Evans. We need only instruct the Tribunals in Holm, Collete, and the other major dioceses to keep close watch on Lucian Evans's movements, and strike when the opportunity arises."
Though Valenshield had been dispatched by the papal faction specifically to exterminate the dark mage, he understood that in countries like Holm, the Magic Parliament's strength utterly eclipsed the Church's. Unless the Church could redeploy the majority of the Cardinals as reinforcements—an act that would leave the Northern Church, the heretical nations near the Dark Mountains, the dark creatures within the Dark Mountains, and the ancient-lineage mangers free to exploit the opening. Therefore, upon learning that the Magic Parliament had made virtually no progress in its research on Natural Divine Arts, both Valenshield and Baha'u'llah had agreed to Philibert's suggestion of avoiding a major confrontation, opting instead for limited, low-profile actions.
Lucian's experiment on the artificial synthesis of urea had been like hurling a boulder into an otherwise gradually calming situation, reigniting the blazing flames of devotion in both Valenshield and Baha'u'llah as they prepared to defend the Lord's majesty. But the subsequent shift in circumstances extinguished their appetite for risk, and they returned to their cautious, steady approach.
"I concur with Valenshield's recommendation. However, arcane geniuses of this caliber rarely leave Alinement or Lantart before reaching mid-tier mage rank—there's essentially no opportunity to eliminate him." Philibert was the member of the College of Cardinals who best understood how the Magic Parliament operated.
Just then, urgent knocking sounded from the study door.
"Enter." Through his vast "Eye of God," Philibert had already perceived a panic-stricken priest standing outside, the sacred light power within him fluctuating violently, as though it might consume him at any moment.
The priest pushed open the door and, breaking all protocol, did not bow to the three great figures. Instead, he blurted urgently: "Your Eminence Philibert, this is this morning's briefing. They risked greatly to send it ahead of schedule."
"Steady yourself. Do not doubt the Lord. Do not doubt the Lord's omniscience and omnipotence." Philibert's voice was gentle, soothing enough to calm the mind, and it brought a measure of composure back to the priest's bewildered panic.
The priest kept drawing crosses over his chest, slowly bringing the surging Divine Bestowal power under control.
Philibert, meanwhile, felt a premonition of ill tidings as he accepted the briefing. With the calmest composure, he looked at the first page:
*Experiment on the Synthesis of a Fatty Acid from Several Non-Living Substances Including Charcoal via a Series of Alchemical Reactions* — Felipe Carneiro.
In the introduction to this paper, Felipe wrote with both pride and directness: "Through this experiment, I believe we can declare to all mages that the Doctrine of Human Vitality has thoroughly exited the stage of arcane development!"
Flipping through the subsequent series of experimental designs, Philibert—a Cardinal of exceptional composure who had served in the Holm diocese for so many years—could not help but roar: "This is blasphemy! This is a direct provocation against the Lord's majesty! Felipe must be eliminated immediately!"
His chin, covered in white beard, trembled violently as his voice rose, and he seemed ready to cast aside all decorum and personally journey to the Saliva Township or to Heideler City or Alinement to purify Felipe. As for the "minor" figure of Lucian Evans and his "negligible" experiment, they had been completely swept from his mind.
The rough and imposing Baha'u'llah took the briefing and examined it closely, then slammed his fist down on Philibert's desk with a devastating blow. Under the faint dark glow that flared from the impact, the desk was utterly obliterated—not a speck of powder remained: "How dare mortals peer into God's domain! This is a blasphemer who must be judged at any cost!"
Had Baha'u'l'laha been anything less than an Epic Knight whose power came from God-bestowed bloodline, the current upheaval in his faith would have already wounded his soul.
"First, we must verify the authenticity of this paper," Valenshield said steadily, not even glancing at the briefing, his hand drawing a cross over his chest.
If a single paper alone could shake the faith of the Church's strongest figures to the point of self-destruction, the Magic Parliament would long ago have produced countless forged papers annually to defeat their enemies. In principle, every priest possessed the ability to replicate experiments described in a paper, provided they had the necessary apparatus and Divine Art arrays beforehand.
"Suppress this paper. We cannot allow it to leak to ordinary bishops and priests as the electromagnetic wave and sacred light incidents did before." Philibert closed his eyes wearily. "This is the Lord's test of us. The sincerity of our faith is revealed precisely at times like this. We shall preach to them only after we have identified the flaws in the experiment or found another explanation."
Having served as the Cardinal of the Holm diocese for nearly a century, Philibert had weathered many such shocks and therefore had not lost control of his "sacred soul" or the sacred light within him. Had it been another Cardinal who had never faced such a blowhead-on, they might well have had their soul seared by their own sacred light after reading the paper.
"All glory be to the Lord; only truth endures forever!" Baha'u'llah, Valenshield, and the priest beside them recited in unison, telling themselves again and again that even if non-living matter could synthesize fatty acids, it too came from the Lord's omniscience and omnipotence—it was simply that they, as believers, had not yet understood the nature of the Lord's test.
Once the prayer was finished, Valenshield spoke in a grave voice: "Cardinal Philibert, I request permission to send several devout Night Watch members to assassinate Felipe. If the opportunity presents itself, they should purify Lucian Evans—the one who triggered this entire affair—as well. If not, they are to wait for another chance."
He specified "devout" Night Watch members because this was a virtually one-way mission. Even with the help of infiltrators to successfully assassinate Felipe, surrounded by so many high-tier mages and Archmages in the vicinity, survival would be utterly impossible—not to mention the presence of several Grand Archanists. Ordinary, recruited Night Watch members would certainly be unwilling to sacrifice themselves; forcing them would only drive them to defect to the Parliament.
"You and Baha'u'llah handle the arrangements for this matter. I will contact the nobles and have each church raise its alert level against possible retaliation from the Magic Parliament." Philibert's voice had returned to its usual composure.
…………
Mershack held the briefing in his hands. The body assembled through human transmutation seemed unable to withstand the shock and fell to the ground in chunks of rotting flesh, yet the soul flames within his eyes stubbornly refused to be extinguished.
"I just wanted to watch a debate that would crush the elemental mages… What is this?"