Chapter 298: Chapter 198: Goodbye Miss Witch_3
Watching her as she left, Lynn quietly lay on the bed, the fragrance of the girl still lingering at the tip of his nose.
After a moment, he began to try to communicate with the Divine Chosen Mark in his mind.
Recently, the exchanges with the witch Miss had been limited to parchment; the last face-to-face meeting had taken place in the Pantheon, right after the end of the Wish Jar riot.
Although not even a month had passed, it felt like it had been a very long time.
Late at night, at the Heavenly Principle Church.
At this very moment, in the grand and majestic central hall, Cardinal Connor stood amid the endless metal tracks of stars, gazing indifferently as the stars rose and fell, days and nights circulated.
Behind him, a statue symbolizing the Lord of Billion Stars faintly radiated dazzling starlight, mysterious and infinite.
After an unknown amount of time, sudden footsteps disrupted the orbit of the stars and awakened Bishop Connor from his meditation.
Looking at his hurrying subordinate, his expression remained indifferent, “What is it?”
“Your Eminence, there is still no trace of Lynn Bartleion,” the subordinate said humbly. “Additionally, the Imperial Council seems to have noticed something and has ordered us to deploy more Transcendents to join the manhunt.”
After all, Glostit was too vast; even the most inconspicuous Lower City District covered an area four times the size of Orn City.
Even if all of the Church’s Transcendents were deployed, without resorting to special means of elimination, trying to carry out the manhunt would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.
Upon hearing this, Cardinal Connor gave a faint smile, “So those old foxes have discovered it?”
“Yes, they seem to have noticed the Church’s lack of action in pursuing Lynn Bartleion.”
The subordinate nodded hesitantly, then stopped short.
“Are you curious too, about why, despite the irreconcilable conflict between Lynn and the Church, I’m not particularly keen on having him hunted down?”
“I am somewhat curious, Your Eminence.”
Cardinal Connor slowly descended the steps from the star tracks, “He is undeniably an enemy of the Church, and his growth far exceeds our expectations. It would be better to root out the problem sooner to minimize future disasters.”
“Unfortunately, those high-ranking old foxes are too senile to understand one thing.”
“For some unknown reason, the Emperor seems to want to protect the lad. Therefore, no matter what, he will not die… at least not over this matter.”
“Moreover, with that little monster Ivyst interfering, if things really get out of hand without considering the consequences, it would bring no small disaster to Glostit.”
Hearing this, the subordinate’s face stiffened.
Luckily, Cardinal Connor quickly continued, “However, from this incident, we can also discern some clues.”
“That lad seems to be aware of the Emperor’s attitude towards him; hence, whether it was the previous two public executions of the Mosgla family’s heir, or recently severely wounding Councilman Blake and killing the Fourth Prince, he seems quite reckless.”
“He is betting that we will ultimately adhere to the Emperor’s decision and not be able to touch him.”
“However, he has forgotten a saying in the Saint Laurent Empire: ‘nothing comes without a limit.'”
“If the same thing happens a fourth time, even the Emperor absolutely cannot protect him.”
After a silence, the subordinate continued to ask, “So is the Church simply waiting for the fourth incident to happen?”
Cardinal Connor smiled and shook his head.
At this moment, even though he was smiling, his face appeared emotionless.
Whenever this happened, the subordinate would feel an incredibly terrifying pressure arise.
“If there’s no opportunity, we’ll create one… I still understand the dangers of letting the tiger return to the mountain; it would be better if he could be thoroughly defeated all at once.”
“So, what should we do?”
“Are those Transcendents who survived from the Tomb of the Dead Silence still in recovery?”
“Yes, apart from the nuns of the Silent Church, others are either mentally disturbed by limb connectors, or because of severe injuries, are still in a critical period.”
“Meaning, at the moment, everything about that night is merely the word of the Silent Church?”
“Exactly, Your Eminence.”
Cardinal Connor slightly narrowed his eyes, fell silent for a moment, then alluded, “Dispose of them.”
It was obvious he was referring to the various powerful Transcendents who were still unconscious.
At that moment, the wounded were all being urgently attended to; capturing them all was an exceedingly simple task, perhaps merely requiring a fire to accomplish.
However, his subordinate froze upon hearing this order.
Noticing his confusion, Cardinal Connor calmly stated, “Just go and do it.”
He didn’t think to explain anything, only gave such an instruction.
“But among those who have survived… there are also Transcendents from the Church.”
A straightforward answer made the implications crystal clear to the other in an instant.
It left him somewhat chilled.
Yet, as a subordinate, he didn’t have the standing to oppose Cardinal Connor and could only accept the command.
Watching his subordinate’s departing figure, Cardinal Connor remained silent.
He intended to eliminate all the surviving Transcendents simply to erase all traces of what had happened that night.
As for the Silent Church… their Holy Maiden was currently missing and might even have been an accomplice in this affair, to say nothing of the testimonies of a few nuns?
Legally speaking, their credibility was greatly reduced.
And once there were no witnesses, the nature of the truth depended on how they chose to present it.
Not just him, all the forces in the Imperial Capital opposed to Ivyst would band together to ensure this matter concluded.
Otherwise, if Lynn were to return as a hero who prevented the descent of a Demon, the Third Imperial Princess’s prestige would rise to unprecedented heights, possibly even advancing her several ranks in the King’s election.
This was something they wished to avoid.
Clearly, although Lynn had not been around for long, everyone had recognized his extraordinary capabilities.
He had uplifted a low-ranking Imperial Princess to a level that made them wary in an incredibly short time.
If only he had chosen a more typical candidate to support, would the current situation be different…
For this very reason, not only the Heavenly Principle Church but also the nobility saw removing Lynn as an urgent matter.
However, Cardinal Connor viewed his method as somewhat special.
The real weak point that could kill with a single blow had already been exposed.
It had occurred a few days earlier in the Council Hall.
Due to the boldness of the youth, Cardinal Connor had chosen not to strike at his most audacious moment but instead retreated a step, lay in wait, and bided his time.
Now, the opportunity had arrived.
That weakness was actually quite simple.
After all, during the award ceremony in the Council Hall, Lynn had chosen a very aggressive approach to cover up a specific accusation.
He somehow couldn’t explain how, at the time in the Soron Mountain Range, he had managed to survive the hands of two Great Demons.
Especially since one of the Demons was involved in the very incident being discussed.
King of Cruelty, Kushustan.
The opposition was on par with deities; a High-dimensional Demon, yet the youngster had escaped from his clutches time and time again.
While the actual situation might not be such, from any perspective, Lynn Bartleion was truly the one colluding with the Demon.
And he only needed to seize this point for his attack.
The border battles and conflicts with the Demon Clan would soon restart.
If an entity trying to disguise as a hero was ultimately revealed to belong indeed to the evil camp, even without punishment, the public’s denunciation alone would completely submerge him and Ivyst.
With these thoughts, Cardinal Connor slightly smiled and waved his hand to reactivate the orbit of stars surrounding him.
(ps: Don’t worry, more tonight, and also at noon tomorrow.)