Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 618 Reaching an Agreement
"As you said, the inheritance fragment held by the Holy See comes with the power of rules called [Rebirth]?" Harvey pondered for a moment.

Sarath, who had been silent the entire time, suddenly spoke up. "Teacher, if you replaced the previous Pope specifically for this new core, why are you acting like this now? Could it be that even the inheritance fragments can't elevate your life?"

Calvin smiled bitterly and shook his head. After Harvey rehid the massive magic pattern, he finally opened his eyes. "The method for using the inheritance fragments has long been lost over the course of thousands of years. Even the descendants of the twelve tribal leaders who originally acquired them are probably all gone now. Church texts record their acquisition at the end of the Dragon War, and hundreds of years of research have only uncovered a handful of their properties."

The creation and transformation of Demon Slayers and Holy Prayer Guards mainly rely on the characteristics of the fragments, and have become a powerful force that the Holy See relies on.

"If I'm not mistaken, the creation and release of many of the Church's divine arts in recent decades are inseparable from the legacy core, right?" Harvey narrowed his eyes. "There seem to be traces of magic integrated into them. This shows that you also rely on drawing pure energy from the magic network space and transforming it for your own use through special methods."

Calvin nodded self-deprecatingly and chuckled, "Ever since Your Majesty's paper revealing the principles of Bloodline Knight transformation was published, we suspected you might have noticed this problem. While the innovative divine arts that incorporate the principles of sorcery have indeed greatly increased the Church's combat power, they also... subject us, like spellcasters, to the same inherent restraints when facing alien enemies."

He spread his hands and spoke to Harvey sincerely, "Gorris is currently under attack by the aliens. Although the Divine Punishment Cult is fighting tooth and nail, determined to live and die with the Holy City... I predict that the entire city will fall completely in as little as five days. By then, the tens of thousands of believers and ordinary worshippers who slowly evacuate the Holy City will likely be pursued and slaughtered by the aliens."

"In exchange for this fragment of inheritance held by the Holy See, I request Your Majesty to send troops to rescue us... You don't need to recapture Goris for us, just temporarily halt the enemy's offensive and give us enough time to evacuate."

Before Harvey could respond, Sarath suddenly interrupted, "Teacher, I'm afraid you're not only planning to use our strength to help your followers escape, but you're also planning to use the enemy to weaken the United Kingdom's manpower, right?"

The demon lizardmen besieging the Holy City must have come from the huge tidal river running through the Divine Spine Mountains beneath Goris. With the help of this natural troop transport channel, the alien race can unscrupulously cross the natural defense line and enter the southern border. To plug this gap... the United Kingdom must pay a huge price to barely achieve it.

Not to mention the casualties involved, the strategic supply and resource transportation alone is an astronomical figure. If one thing moves the whole body... it will definitely affect the border defense line of Isengard and the Ice Sea Front thousands of miles away.

He leaned over to Harvey and whispered, "Your Majesty, please consider this carefully. Taking over the mountain kingdom of Yarid and using the terrain to defend it is clearly more advantageous to our cause than sending troops to Goris to stop the demon lizardmen."

Harvey pondered for a moment, then looked up at Calvin and said, "Since Your Excellency believes the Vatican can hold out in the Holy City for a maximum of five days, let's make a deal... After you hand over the inheritance core, I will immediately send reinforcements. However, the United Kingdom will not be the main force in Goris to directly engage the enemy. Whether we can buy enough time for the ordinary believers in the city to evacuate... depends on whether the Divine Punishment Faction stationed there are truly determined to fight to the death."

Calvin was stunned for a moment, then asked doubtfully, "Then how does Your Majesty plan to attack? Without deploying your massive magical army, relying solely on the less than ten thousand Judgment Troops stationed in the city by the Divine Punishment Sect, even with an equal number of remaining believers, we simply cannot contend with the constantly increasing influx of foreign troops."

"Then cut off their reinforcement route!" Harvey waved his hand decisively. "I know where they came from and how they silently crossed the Divine Spine Mountains to launch their surprise attack on you. As long as we cut off that underground passage, even if the Winged Living can leap over the chasm and continue south with their abilities, I believe their numbers won't be too large... You will naturally have ways to deal with their small forces."

He no longer hesitated, raising his hand towards Calvin and saying, "Then... Your Excellency Calvin, can you now hand over the inheritance fragment to me as proof of your sincerity in reaching our agreement?" Calvin sighed, knowing he couldn't say anything more. With a bitter expression, he said, "No matter how you plan to reinforce Goris, I can only choose to trust you unconditionally... Your Majesty, please abide by our agreement."

Sarath slowly retreated behind Harvey to prevent any accidents from happening.

Pope XIII, with his hunched body and old face, raised his hands and clasped them against his chest in a hugging posture. Then, a crystal clear crimson prismatic gem slowly oozed out of his body. It was the size of a vertical spindle, and its surface shone with an unusual luster, as if it had been polished and carved by a craftsman.

As soon as the magic core... or the inheritance fragment appeared, Harvey felt an indescribable desire surging from the depths of his spiritual anchor, as if instinctively driving him towards it.

Without saying anything, he immediately raised his hand and pointed, pulling the core that was floating in the air towards him at a rapid speed, and then it silently sank into his chest.

Saras was stunned and asked, "Your Majesty? Has the process of devouring and fusion been completed?"

Harvey shook his head and laughed, "How is that possible? I'm just temporarily containing it and using my mental power to isolate it from myself. Once we return to the real world, we can consider the follow-up issues in a safe environment."

After saying that, he looked at Calvin again and found that his projection in the magic network plane was gradually blurring. It seemed that the connection with the alien space would be disconnected soon, and the projection was about to completely collapse.

"Your Holiness, is there anything else you would like to explain?"

Calvin's figure gradually faded away, and his lips curled up. His gaze turned to Sarath. "After losing the inheritance fragment, I will no longer be able to enter the magic network space. Sarath... this may be the last time we meet in this life."

Seeing that Sarath's expression remained stern, he sighed and continued, "Even after trying everything, I still can't escape my fate as a mortal. Perhaps this is just the way the world works. I hope you won't make the same mistake I did."

"Teacher... where will you be next?" Saras finally spoke with difficulty, but did not respond to Calvin's instructions.

Calvin paused briefly as he was about to disappear, then chuckled softly, "There's no need to look for me anymore. Do your utmost to help His Majesty Harvey fight against fate... Humanity has long thrived, hoping to transcend the mortal world and pursue the difficult fate of truth."

(End of this chapter)