Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 497 Letter from the Holy City
"Say your name!"

A rough hand reached out to the old priest's forehead and pulled away the cotton cloth covering his eyes.

The sudden burst of light into his sight made him sway a little uncomfortably. He squinted his eyes for a long time before whispering, "Theron, Theron Garrett..."

The priest raised his head slightly. In the magnificent castle hall, a young man with black hair and black eyes was sitting upright on a high-backed chair located on several steps. Judging from his appearance... he looked like he was not even twenty years old.

He is... the Lord of the North?
The young man suddenly spoke, his voice surprisingly low and gentle, completely unlike the cold and hard voice of other spellcasters. "Priest Garrett, I heard that you have a message from the Pope that you want to convey to me personally?"

Garrett had been brought from Barkley to the old capital of Golden City, and had been closely monitored by two bloodline warriors the moment he stepped onto the ironclad ship. Upon arriving at the border of Grizzli Territory, he was blindfolded. Although he could clearly sense that he had changed several modes of transportation along the way, they were clearly not carriages... Until now, he still hadn't figured out how he had quickly crossed the towering Divine Ridge Mountains and arrived in the wilderness in less than a day.

"Please forgive my rudeness, Your Excellency... The Pope's words of instruction must be heard by you alone."

What he meant was that all the guards who were currently stationed in the castle hall, eyeing him covetously, needed to clear out and leave, and not even a single ordinary waiter was allowed to stay.

Upon hearing this, Tietou, the deputy captain of the imperial guards, frowned, his face distorted by scars from the fire, and anger erupted. "Old charlatan, if you dare to make such an impolite request again and disrespect the city lord, I will slap you down!"

Captain Tommy also narrowed his eyes. Although he didn't say anything, the threat in his eyes was obvious.

Garrett, however, showed no fear. He stood in the middle of the hall, his sleeves gathered up, and closed his eyes, saying, "If Your Excellency cannot accept this, you can execute me now."

Harvey chuckled and waved his hand, saying, "You all should leave first..."

"Sir! This damned charlatan..."

Harvey shook his head and said sternly, "Before meeting me, he had already been thoroughly examined by Arturo and other spellcasters. Not even the most basic divine fluctuations were found in his body. He was a completely ordinary person."

The guards then gave up, bowed and left the hall one after another.

"Well, now you can deliver the Pope's message."

Garrett let out a long sigh and said in a deep voice, "His Holiness the Pope asked me to ask His Excellency, Lord, what do you think of those mortals?"

"Does this have anything to do with the conflict between the spellcaster and the church?" Harvey frowned and asked in confusion.

"Mortals are small, short-lived, ignorant, and constantly busy throughout their lives, yet they don't know where they come from or where they are going," Garrett said slowly, minding his own business. "Similarly... servants of the gods, or spellcasters like you who pursue truth and wisdom, are equally bewildered and clueless. Most people, even if they work their entire lives, will never understand the truth of the world."

Harvey tapped the back of his chair with his fingers and asked impatiently, "What exactly do you want to say? Or what message does the Pope want to convey to me?" "His Holiness received divine revelation during his prayers. In the near future... the tribes of the southern border will face an invasion by a race even more powerful and terrifying than the demons. They will sweep south with all their might. The tribes of the southern border, already divided and fighting each other, will be powerless to resist."

Garrett recited all the most important contents of the oral instruction in one breath, then looked up at Harvey who was sitting at the top, trying to see the expected fear, confusion and panic in his expression.

Unfortunately, he was disappointed. The other person's expression was unusually calm, with only a slightly furrowed brow revealing that he was lost in thought.

After a long pause, Harvey slowly spoke, "I want to know how the Pope learned this news. Don't tell me about divine revelation... At least in my several encounters with you, I've never personally witnessed the manifestation of the deity you worship."

Garrett took a deep breath, unperturbed by Harvey's sarcasm. He spoke quickly, "The church was founded to unite the various tribes of the southern border through the power of faith, to jointly fight against the powerful alien races that seek to destroy us. If it weren't for the sudden rise of the spellcaster, we would have had more time to prepare for the impending disaster!"

These words made Harvey laugh. "You said the church intends to unite the various tribes in the southern border. I agree with that... But if you say the rise of spellcasters has hindered you, that's pure nonsense."

He stood up, walked down the stairs, and stood before Garrett. "You rely on the secret blood-summoning technique acquired from the demons to transform and cultivate extraordinary bloodline knights? You rely on magic stolen from ancient wizards, then improve it and claim it's divine art bestowed by the gods? With all due respect, you've already been defeated by me many times."

Harvey paused, then continued bluntly, "So I don't believe the Church has the ability to dominate the situation in the Southern Territory, and I certainly don't think you can successfully lead the various tribes in the Southern Territory to fight against the alien enemies."

Garrett, oppressed by the other party's terrifying aura, unconsciously looked away again and lowered his head, muttering, "Yes, even if the Federation is not to be feared, we should not underestimate you... This is the wrong choice we made."

He gasped twice as if drowning, and after a moment's pause, he continued, "Having learned from all the previous lessons, we believe it is imperative to form an alliance with you and reach cooperation. Please, for the sake of our tribe's continued existence, temporarily put aside all past conflicts and disputes."

Garrett stretched out his right hand and opened it. A strange emblem, shimmering with a faint golden light, suddenly appeared in the empty palm. "If you are willing to accept, you can sign a secret covenant with me... After that, I will reveal to you all the ancient historical secrets of the alien invasion. You will truly witness the strength and terror of the enemies our race will face in the future..."

Before he could finish his words, Harvey couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"You don't believe it? Or do you doubt the sincerity of the Vatican?" Garrett clasped his palms together and said sincerely, "This isn't a trap set for you. You know full well that I'm just a presiding priest, devoid of any divine power. As the Pope's secret minister, aside from recording and transmitting the ancient secrets of the Vatican, I don't participate in any other affairs... The open and covert struggles between the various factions within the Church have no influence on my position at all."

At this moment, a tall alchemical prosthetic body that had been standing quietly next to Harvey's city lord throne suddenly lit up with two flickering dark red soul fires in its originally dark metal eye sockets, and a low and magnetic voice came out from it.

"My lord, he doesn't seem to be lying."

A living alchemical creation! Garrett subconsciously took two steps back and turned to look at Harvey in disbelief.

"Don't be afraid. He means you no harm." Harvey suppressed a smile and slowly explained, "I just don't think it's necessary. After all... the intelligence I possess about our alien enemies is probably far more than what you know from ancient texts and generations of tradition."

(End of this chapter)