As the illusory colors faded, the new Pope Anastas, the Archangel Mekantron, Templar Knights Commander Mermos, and the others within the grand teleportation formation vanished from Luntard.
As the teleportation formation's glow gradually dimmed, Hathaway's typically detached voice took on a hint of complex emotion as she called out clearly: "Elemental Dissolution."
Crack, crack, crack — the grand teleportation formation, already severely damaged under the Eternal Blazing Sun, completely disintegrated into countless elements, some settling, some dissipating.
The Southern Church's linchpin for ruling the region across the Storm Strait had finally disappeared, marking the Southern Church's formal farewell to the four strait nations and the northern coastal corridor.
"A pity — if not for the Divine Grace from the Heavens..." Oliver was somewhat regretful that they hadn't expanded their gains further.
Atlan's specialty in illusions and curses had been nearly useless against the brute force of the "Eternal Blazing Sun," so he'd looked rather wretched during the battle. But now his expression was perfectly content. He closed his eyes again and chuckled: "Oliver, greed is a psychological vulnerability that can be exploited. We didn't lose a single one of our seventeen Legendary mages, we've seized control of this side of the Storm Strait, and we've won over six Epic Knights to our side — our strength has grown enormously. What more could you want?"
His words were well-founded. The "Shapeshift Master" Erika had returned, the "Lord of Air" Hercules had returned, the "Soul Sovereign" Vicente had returned, and the "Void Hammer" Bedrenka had arrived representing the Brianna Kingdom's sincerity. In the distance, the "Nightwalker" was also approaching.
With this, the Arcane Parliament's mobilizable Legendary forces reached twenty-three, truly surpassing the Dark Parliament's nineteen Legendaries. They also had more peak-level powerhouses, and their organization and cohesion far exceeded the Dark Parliament's — even when they'd had only eighteen Legendaries, other factions had already regarded the Arcane Parliament as superior to the Dark Parliament. After all, the Dark Parliament was an absurdly loose alliance; the vampires and werewolves would have happily bashed each other's brains in. The Primordial Dragons were incomparably arrogant, looking down on every race other than the vampires.
Similarly, the Northern Church itself had only fifteen Legendaries, of whom only the Pontiff stood at the peak, possessing power that could briefly approach the demigod level — weaker than the Arcane Parliament. But the Shahran Empire and the other northern kingdoms and duchies together had twelve Epic Knights, bringing the total across the entire faction to twenty-seven Legendaries, which by all accounts surpassed the Arcane Parliament of old. Now, however, with peak Legendaries being so scarce, they too had fallen behind the Parliament.
Thus, the Arcane Parliament and the territories under its control had become a genuine second power.
Before Oliver could answer, he spotted Davi the Creator returning, surrounded by his golem legion — a gaunt and somewhat vacant-looking "young man" whose eyes only took on a fervent gleam when he looked at the golems and other constructs he'd built.
Davi smiled bitterly: "Stone got away."
He then added: "I was stunned by the Pope's death. Before I could recover my wits, he made the split-second decision to flee. I've taken control of most of the Grail Knights, though."
"Give the Grail Knights to Natasha — that was the prearranged promise. She'll have Richard convert them into the Royal Holy Knights. If some of those knights can't be converted, then..." Douglas showed little mercy toward the enemy. "Oliver, you and Davi go after Stone. He's probably already far out of reach by now, but your main objective is to put pressure on him and prevent him from causing destruction along the way."
"Yes." Oliver had been regretting that he hadn't personally killed a member of the Cardinal's circle, so he was quite eager. He grabbed Davi and set off in pursuit.
Above Luntard, a sudden quiet fell — as if the earlier battle, with its Divine Descents and Eternal Blazing Sun, had been nothing but an illusion.
Seeing this, Douglas broke the silence with a somewhat delighted remark: "This operation was originally expected to cost us one or two Legendaries, but Saer de gave us a pleasant surprise. If he hadn't exhausted Benedict II's first Divine Descent, the Silver Moon and the Abyss would likely have waited for us to wear them down."
"Even though the Dark Parliament had very little chance of success due to the time constraints, the Church has lost three saints — Anthony, Augusta, and Saer de — along with Bifel, a Holy Spirit Priest. On top of that, Anastas has become the new Pope, and it remains unclear whether the three remaining Holy Spirit Priests will return to them. The Southern Church has suffered devastating losses."
"I hereby declare that Operation 'Mushroom Cloud' has been successfully completed!"
At Douglas's final announcement, the post-battle silence was completely dispelled, replaced by a lighthearted atmosphere. For the mages, this meant they no longer had to worry about being assassinated by the Night Watch at any moment, and no longer had to anguish over having the enemy right next door to their headquarters.
Seeing the mood lift, Douglas chuckled: "Hathaway, have the mages from the Holum branch work with Richard to gather up the clergy within the kingdom and integrate them into the new Church. We can't let them scatter on their own — this way, we'll be able to conduct joint Divine Arts research projects with the Holum National Church and similar organizations."
Hathaway nodded and issued her instructions to the Holum branch mages through the ancient messaging art — at this point, the electromagnetic environment was still quite chaotic.
Then Douglas turned to Vicente, Holt, Erika, Atlan, Helen, and Hercules: "Fernando and I have always tolerated the existence of factions within the Parliament — the Pale Hand, the Elemental Will, the Silver Moon Song Alliance, the Wizard's House, Palmeira's Cottage — precisely because we hoped that one day, you would contribute to the Parliament. Your infiltration of your respective nations and your recruitment of Epic Knights this time have all been very successful. Going forward, I hope you will continue to watch over your respective territories and not allow the Church and our other enemies to get their way."
"The sole requirement is that the presidents and vice presidents of all branches will henceforth be uniformly appointed by the High Council."
Douglas, riding the prestige of his great victory, put forward this demand. But he had also indirectly acknowledged the major factions' influence over their respective territories, so Vicente and the other Legendary mages raised no objections to this partial consolidation of power — they were themselves members of the High Council.
"Atlan and I will take turns guarding the Duchy of Gale," Erika was the first to declare. The other Legendary mages followed suit with their own pledges, dividing up the territories into different "dioceses" to maintain order — much like the Church.
At that moment, the "Nightwalker" Winston received word from the nobles below. Understanding their unanimous choice, he smiled: "Holum is the safest place. I already sense my burdens easing."
At this point, the old tradition barring mages from the Nekster Palace would surely be abolished. With that, Hathaway and Davi, while looking after the Elemental Will and the Holum Royal Arcane Tower, could also keep an eye on the outer defenses of the Nekster Palace.
The brief meeting ended, and the Legendary powerhouses departed one by one. Hathaway and Winston descended into the Grand Hall of the Noble Assembly, as there were still matters left unresolved.
Natasha sheathed the "Sword of Truth" and looked at Winston: "Lord Winston, where is Lord Kettonia?"
"He refused to cooperate with the Parliament and fled Luntard," Winston answered honestly.
Duke Kettonia's face immediately turned deathly pale, though mixed with a hint of relief — at least their ancestor hadn't died, which would make their own situation much better.
Natasha pressed her lips together slightly. She turned to face the noble assembly members: "Now, I request the trial of a murder case — the murder of the former Crown Prince Patrick."