The sudden downpour continued into the late night, and the sound of rain outside spread unease to every corner of the Imperial Capital.
When dawn arrived again and the morning light returned to the city, residents of the capital who stepped outside discovered that their city had been turned upside down—ice had frozen every street, and even the sky had formed a barrier, making the entire city seem as if it were sealed within ice.
Yet the expected piercing cold did not come, and the bolder residents curiously touched the ice layer that had frozen the houses, feeling a peculiar sensation of "cold" coexisting with "intense heat."
But then, an even more wondrous scene appeared.
With the first resident’s scream, everyone’s attention turned to the sky.
An image appeared on the ice layer above the capital, and they saw Pope Julius; it seemed to be an event that occurred before dawn, as creations of the Evil God attacked the Imperial Capital Cathedral.
The armor covered with eyes and tentacles terrified every resident of the capital, and soon someone recognized the owner of that armor—it was Abaddon, who had been chosen by the Pope as the next candidate for Knight Commander.
Soon after, the riveting dialogue between the two reached the ears of every resident in the capital.
Abaddon accused the Pope of his crimes, calling him a despicable man who only dared to strike against those who could not resist, never daring to face the true followers of the Evil God.
The residents wore varied expressions, and although they vaguely felt that those being burned at the stake were not true followers of the Evil God, in the capital, no one ever dared to discuss these matters openly. Everyone tacitly reached an understanding that whoever the Church and the Judicial Court declared as followers of the Evil God were certainly so.
They watched Abaddon, filled with rage, charging at Julius with his squirming tentacles, and just as they were about to engulf the Pope, a burly man radiating a silver-white glow stood between them. He punched through Abaddon’s chest and easily twisted his neck.
Then, he disdainfully threw the now limp Abaddon to the ground as if disposing of rubbish.
Before the image ended, the residents heard Julius refer to this sudden strong man as "teacher."
Everyone had the same question in their hearts. It was hard for them to imagine what sort of person could become the current Pope’s teacher.
But this time, the Kingdom Army did not come to clear the streets and drive everyone back to their homes. Residents could even exchange impressions and guesses about the identity of the "teacher" with nearby neighbors after witnessing this shocking spectacle.
After all, the next knight commander was dead, and dead in the form of an Evil God’s creation; who else could mobilize the Kingdom Army’s knights?
Residents found it to have a sense of dark humor; Abaddon was dead, and the Pope lost his puppet to command the Kingdom Army.
However, it’s best to think positively.
At least, most people learned something new today.
So, that’s what creations of the Evil God look like.
With so many burned to death, they almost thought that the followers and creations of the Evil God looked exactly like normal people.
They knew the Pope must be feeling terrible now. This seemed to signal to everyone that the long-unshakable rule of the Church was finally beginning to weaken.
Lindong, having also formed his impression, expressed a professional opinion, "Who taught you this? How can your ice elemental magic play an image?"
"It took me quite a bit of effort, and I wasn’t sure if it would succeed."
Ethan was inspired by expert-level elemental drawing to conceive an idea—since he could see the battlefield from the magic scroll being used, why couldn’t he take it a step further to preserve this recording function and share it with others?
Old Ba, his mentor and friend, provided him inspiration for using ice elemental magic.
"The armor Abaddon wore transformed his body into a humanoid walking recording device. He died with resentment and fury. Although it was a tumultuous process, I ultimately succeeded in connecting his mind to the ice above. What we saw was the last image Abaddon saw."
Ethan said, "This required two conditions: his death and strong hatred for dying. This would make him willing to offer his soul to Old Ba, and before Old Ba could harvest it, I could intercept his soul."
Abaddon may have died, but his soul lived on in the ice that froze the entire capital.
Mr. Abaddon had a pointy head but was a person of emotion.
He would resent anyone who didn’t save him.
Possessing the purest malice, born seemingly destined to be a minion of the Evil God, so when he heard Old Ba’s whispers, he responded without much hesitation.
He died, but he would make sure the Church and Julius paid for it. That was Mr. Abaddon’s dying wish.
In the final moments of his life, he still failed to reclaim a knight’s virtue, yet through a vengeful mindset, he accomplished something no Kingdom Knight had done before—he denounced Pope Julius, calling him a coward and exposing the Church’s framing and slander.
Ethan felt that vindictive virtue is still virtue.
He wanted to pay Abaddon his highest respects.
"It sounds like the soul sacrifice ritual of Bazatous’s followers."