Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 616: Signal for Help
"Long time no see, teacher..." The gray-white figure gradually became clear in Sarath's sight.

Pope XIII, dressed in a gray priest robe and with a haggard face, nodded slowly and smiled back at him. "It's been a long time, Sarath..."

He paused, looking at the brass ring that the legendary wizard always wore on the little finger of his left hand, and sighed, "No matter what happens, I always believe that you will keep your promise to me. Now it seems that you have not let me down."

Sarath felt uncomfortable with the small talk after nearly fifty years. After a pause, he spoke directly, "Do you hope to use my connections to speak directly with His Majesty Harvey?"

The Pope nodded frankly. "You and I both know that the Church cannot withstand the premature arrival of the alien calamity... The Federation is also unable to cope. Aside from this spellcaster emperor in the north, I have no other target for help."

Hearing this, Sarath raised his eyebrows and spoke with a hint of sarcasm. "So, teacher, you're finally admitting that your betting on both the Church of Light and the Union has failed, right?"

The Pope was stunned for a moment, but showed no anger. Instead, he explained calmly, "I founded the Union. If I hadn't seized the authority of the 12th Pope, the Southern Territory would have been destroyed by endless internal strife by now, without having to wait for the invasion of foreign races."

Salas couldn't help but take two steps forward and questioned in a deep voice, "But after you seized the Church's authority, you didn't bring lasting peace to the southern border... The Church's Divine Punishment faction remains rampant, witch hunters are even more prevalent, and aristocratic spellcasters are like fence-sitters, instigated by the Church to murder their colleagues without mercy."

Many secular kingdoms, at the instigation of the Vatican, openly and covertly excluded and isolated independent spellcasters within their countries, creating a negative image of them as cold, arrogant, and unkind in the minds of the people.

The so-called peace covenant concluded between the church and the federation has an undercurrent mingled with the blood of countless innocent people.

"Indeed, I originally thought that using the power of the Church to put pressure on those independent spellcasters would make them align more closely with the Union and serve you wholeheartedly. However, I never imagined... that this would lead to the rise of the Divine Punishment Faction, which has been secretly accumulating power within the Church."

He paused, then said with some resignation, "By the time I realized the root of the problem, I was already in a critical situation with declining magic power... Simply relying on the secret methods passed down by the Church to prolong my life was already too much for me to take care of myself. How could I have the time to mediate the conflict of faith between you and the Holy See?"

Saras opened his mouth, and the word "hypocrisy" almost slipped out, but it turned back and forth in his throat for a few times, and he finally swallowed it down with all his strength.

As the teacher who founded the Spellcaster Union... he did not choose to take action against the then Pope XII in order to bridge the internal strife between the two.

As the only legendary spellcaster left among the human race in the southern border since the Dragon War, he has been committed to exploring the advancement direction to the legendary demigod level since founding the Union, eager to become... a being who can achieve a leap in life level with a mortal body.

Unfortunately, things did not go as planned. After many risky attempts, the teacher finally realized that it was impossible to succeed on the path of magic alone. The ironclad fact that there had never been a precedent also made it impossible for him to find any reference target.

At the same time, his body was showing signs of weakening magical powers... and the astrological prophecy that his life span was gradually coming to an end, all urged him to take risks and find a way out for himself.

It was natural that Pope XII, who was rumored to be in control of the forbidden ritual of rebirth in the Holy See, became the target chosen by the teacher to replace and seize his identity.

Thinking of this, Salas tilted his head to look at the haggard old man in front of him, a hint of gloating pleasure rising in his heart. "It seems that the forbidden magic of the Church cannot extend the lifespan of mortals indefinitely. Teacher, your body is still inevitably showing signs of decline, and the magic power in your body is even..." He suddenly paused, frowning in disbelief, and said in astonishment: "Teacher, you... the magic power veins in your body..."

The Pope shrugged and said gently, "They have long since decayed and degenerated... eventually disappearing from my body. Now I am just an ordinary person, completely unable to cast magic or divine arts. Apart from the precious knowledge I have accumulated over two hundred years, even my lifespan is drawing to a close."

"But... I'm not completely sitting idly by. After the Saint Valen Corruption incident, I did my best to suppress the Divine Punishment faction on your behalf. Otherwise, even if the Spear of Glory were completely annihilated in Golden City... Bamoa and Felipe would very likely send two more Knights of the Judgment Army to avenge them, and might even instigate the Isengard royal family to seize the opportunity to attack you."

No wonder...

Salas kept a sullen face and said nothing, but his mind was racing. No wonder the Holy See had strangely chosen to retreat and evade in the several clashes between Harvey and the Church. Almost every time the Divine Punishment Faction suffered a setback at Saint Valen, they had not launched a comeback counterattack, which invisibly gave the new Northern regime many opportunities to breathe and develop.

He pondered for a moment and then said, "We are not surprised that the Church is unable to resist the Lizardmen... But it seems unnecessary for you to ask His Majesty Harvey for help."

"Knowing that the Holy City could not be defended, you would have decisively left the Divine Punishment Faction behind as cannon fodder to resist the alien attack, buying enough time for your own trusted followers to evacuate, right?"

"If I'm not mistaken, you will arrange for them to move to independent dioceses across the southern border, so that they can gather strength and make a comeback..."

Salas' tone was filled with barely suppressed anger. Finally, he took a deep breath and asked in a deep voice, "Teacher, you are clearly a spellcaster like us, believing in the magical path of wisdom and truth... But why do you now value the inheritance and future of the Church even more than the true Pope did back then? Have you truly witnessed the ethereal gods descend to the world and spread their blessings and glory during your over a hundred years at the helm of the Holy See?"

The Pope smiled bitterly and shook his head, quietly listening to his only student's merciless scolding. Suddenly, he seemed to realize something, raised his eyebrows and interrupted Sarath's chatter.

"You want to know the specific reason? Haha, I think this His Majesty Harvey, whom I'm meeting for the first time... should be able to explain it to you clearly for me."

As soon as he finished speaking, Sarath felt a familiar voice suddenly appear behind him.

"Uh... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop." Harvey gently raised his hand and stopped Sarath as she was about to turn her head to look at him. He reminded her gently, "Sir Sarath, for some unspoken reason, I suggest you don't look back at me at this moment."

After saying that, he turned his gaze to the gray-robed old man in front of him and found that since he appeared... the other party also wisely sensed some kind of danger and simply chose to close his eyes.

Harvey chuckled, his fingers twitching on Sarath's shoulder as he abruptly explained, "Your teacher... the founder of the Union. He probably didn't properly handle the fusion of souls when he devoured the 12th Pope, ultimately leading to his own uncontrolled infection by the Pope's soul fragments. By the time he realized something was amiss... it was already too late."

(End of this chapter)