Inner Destroyer

　This brought a pause.

　Father Amos sighed.

　Qi Xing looked indifferent.

　Elaine stood at the back. On the one hand, she was very grateful for Qi Xing's support; on the other hand, she felt a heavy heart.

　Samael floated above Qi Xing and yawned. Perhaps all these worries, fears, and tangled interests among humans were too dull for her. It was boring. Why couldn't she just enjoy the battle?

　To be honest, Qi Xing was a bit impatient. But since his friend was clearly there with good intentions, he patiently said, "Amos, if you're worried I've been tempted by the devil, just say it. Don't use riddles or hesitate."

　These words finally made the old priest breathe a sigh of relief. "I'm not worried that you'll fall easily. But the devil is a great liar and is very good at weaving lies."

　When he said this, he turned his head and glanced at Samael floating there, and made the sign of the cross on his chest.

　Qi Xing also looked up at the loli demon king floating above his head and said noncommittally: "I don't think she is that smart."

　He originally thought that these words were enough to insult Samael.

　"It's not a question of whether the devil himself is smart enough."

　Unexpectedly, Father Amos's next words were even more cruel.

　"Sometimes the devil is so foolish that he doesn't realize that what he says is simply untrue. Be careful and be aware. You may have extraordinary power, you may have good intentions. But you may still accidentally fall into a pit when using dark powers, just like the devil himself."

　Samael didn't really care how the world framed her. After all, in her eyes, these people were just NPCs she'd created. But hearing Qi Xing and the other two chime in, she couldn't help but grumble, "You think you're so clever and funny, don't you?"

　Both of them ignored her.

　Just as he finished the previous sentence, Father Amos suddenly raised his tone and said to Sister Elaine who was standing next to Qi Xing, "Ah, it's so late. Sister, can you give me a double espresso? Thank you."

　Elaine had always been clever. She was slightly startled, then immediately realized that her master was deliberately trying to get her out of the way so he could talk to Qi Xing alone. As for the demon floating nearby, since no one could drive it away, everyone just ignored it.

　So Elaine didn't complain and walked into the kitchen obediently.

　But she never expected what Father Amos wanted to say to Qi Xing.

　As soon as Elaine left, the old exorcist came up to Qi Xing and said in a low voice, "I haven't seriously studied the matter of silver coins. But if you want to look it up, you can go to the underground library of Castel Sant'Angelo first. Don't forget to bring Elaine with you, otherwise you won't be able to understand the book at all."

　After all, Qi Xing really couldn't understand Latin, Greek, Israeli, and Aramaic - he only knew Chinese, English, and Japanese, which was enough for him in this life - and among the people he knew, only Elaine had extremely rich language knowledge, even better than the leader of the esoteric simulator.

　"Okay." Qi Xing rubbed his forehead. "I owe you a favor, Amos."

　"No need to owe it, because I need you to pay it back now."

　Unexpectedly, the old priest said,

　"During this time, please protect Elaine."

　what?

　"Be careful of black people

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　, beware of voodoo, beware of "Black Spartacus."

　what? !

　"Can you please stop telling me in riddles?"

　Although Qi Xing complained immediately, when your friend insisted on telling you a riddle, even if you had super strength, it was useless. You couldn't just beat your friend up for telling you a riddle, right? Is that a human thing to do?

　"Let's get together again someday and wake up together. Let's have another drink later."

　After saying this, the old priest stood up from his chair and left in a hurry.

　Although Qi Xing got the direction for the next step - to go to the underground library of the church "Castle Sant'Angelo" to look up information - he was also confused by what Amos said.

　It was not until the next day that he found out what had happened in the Vatican.

　The Holy See really didn't dare to cause trouble for Qi Xing - even if Qi Xing took a silver coin of Judas, signed a contract with Satan, and even held the tip of the Holy Lance of Longinus in his hand and refused to return it, they didn't have the courage to do so.

　However, they convened a meeting of many senior officials and held a formal inquiry into Father Amos, the head of the "Association," to hold him accountable.

　For example, Sister Elaine should be held accountable for dereliction of duty, and Father Amos should be held accountable for not managing his subordinates and apprentices properly - since you, as a master, have to protect your apprentice, then it is natural that you will be held accountable.

　For example, we need to hold Professor Vanstra responsible for stealing the tip of the Spear of Longinus - why could a second-rate parapsychology scholar sneak into the underground treasury as if he were shopping in a supermarket and steal the most important holy relic of the Church?

　For example, they even wanted to investigate some issues that Qi Xing would never even think of, such as -

　"Since 70% of the International Exorcist Association's revenue in recent years has been attributed to Rep Zhenren, why don't we just disband the association and hire him on at a high salary? At least it would be much cheaper than maintaining a useless organization."

　The thinking patterns of the people in this world will always be beyond Qi Xing's expectations!

　-

　[Miscellaneous knowledge that is not suitable for inclusion in the main text]

　The International Exorcist Association actually exists in our world. It was founded at the end of the last century and is still operating normally.

　In a way, it's the closest thing to the "Burying Trap" in real life. Although it was founded by the Roman Catholic Church, it genuinely accepts exorcists from outside the church, from all over the world and from other religions. Even witches and monks are accepted, which is quite incredible.

　Furthermore, exorcists who officially registered with the association received astonishingly good salaries and benefits. They could just sit back and collect money every month without doing anything, and even receive additional stipends when they had work to do. The Roman Catholic Church was incredibly wealthy, it was terrifying!

　In our world, to date, the "International Exorcist Association" has only about two to three hundred official exorcists.

　However, in this world of the Imperial Book, because the demand is obviously higher, the number of people, scale and budget of the "Association" will definitely be different.

　029: Questioning Meeting

　“Step into the church as a sinner.”

　For Father Amos, who had just turned 100, this was a common occurrence, for he had regretted his mistakes countless times before the Holy Spirit throughout his long life.

　But today his identity as a "sinner" is quite special.

　The Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore is an ancient building that served as the Imperial Pantheon during the Roman Empire.

　Today, here, Father Amos will be questioned by the Holy See as a sinner - not because of an offense against God, but because of an offense against man.

　All the windows inside the church are covered, and there are only a few candlesticks inside to maintain the lighting. Today's church is too advanced in some aspects, but incredibly conservative in other aspects.

　Unlike the ancient Greeks, the ancient Romans embraced the principle of "unity of the gods." Jupiter, the god-king, enjoyed undisputed power among the gods. The fragmented and divided gods, as seen in the Trojan War, were unacceptable to the conservative Romans. Therefore, most Roman oratories were semicircular, highlighting Jupiter's undisputed central authority.

　Today, Father Amos will be questioned here as a sinner, and the "gods" who will interrogate him are stationed on both sides of the church.

　In this era, all gods have passed away, only God remains, but——

　"When dawn calls you, you don't respond."

　"You are silent when it is dark."

　After whispering David's lament, Amos took his place and waited silently like a prisoner on trial.

　The clerk, who had remained silent until then, finally flipped on a switch and began reading out the list of names from the independent investigation committee:

　Cardinal Dominic Melville, Vice-President of the Privy Council of the Holy See, Archbishop of Tonga.

　Cardinal Ricardo Perez, Archbishop of Litoral, Spain, President of the Supreme Court of the Holy Seal.

　Cardinal Daniel Belvedere, Prefect of the Congregation for the Divine Worship, Archbishop of Montevideo, Uruguay.

　Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith - Martin Nguyen Van Nhan, Archbishop of Hanoi, Vietnam.

　Lady Gwendolyn van Stafia, leader of the Knights of the Holy Lance.

　Grand Master of the Brotherhood of the Wolf—absent.

　The Little Dragon Princess of Wallagine - Duchess Ramina Tepes.

　There are so many big shots.

　"Grand Master Ophir is absent again?"

　Cardinal Dominic's deep voice broke the silence

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　He lowered his head slightly and flipped through the records on his desk.

　He was the Cancelleria, the second most powerful person in the Vatican. In other words, one of the most powerful people in the world. No one in the room wanted to talk to him, not even the chief exorcist.

　Seeing no response, Archdeacon Dominic turned his attention to Father Amos.

　"Brother Gabriel, let's get down to business."

　"Please, sir."

　Amos replied calmly.

　Although he didn't say it, the old exorcist could probably guess the reason why the Grand Master of the Wolf Brotherhood was absent.

　Because just like "Rep Master," the lone old wolf, most of the world's most powerful and righteous people also hate politics. Instead, they prefer to focus on fighting the various dark evils in the world.

　"Brother Daniel, please start asking questions."

　said the Vice-Pope.

　"Yes, Your Excellency."

　Daniel, the Minister of Sacraments, spoke slowly. His voice was as deep as a bell, and his face, typical of a mixed-race Central and South American, was covered in wrinkles.

　Father Amos knew why he was the first to speak. Because Cardinal Daniel, like the current Pope, was from Central and South America. His stance was somewhat similar to that of the Apostolic See. In a sense, he, like Father Amos himself, was a newly appointed confidant of the Pope.

　"Brother Gabriel, are you aware that the recent actions of the International Exorcist Association have already caused controversy within the church?"

　Minister Daniel said.

　Father Amos raised his head, his gaze firm and resolute. "If the Church is tarnished by our actions, do you realize that this very dust is stirred up by those who are about to fall into the abyss in their last cry for help?"

　Daniel didn't answer directly. His aged fingers tapped a few times on the table. The cardinal beside him understood and immediately turned on the projector. Dense data was then projected onto the makeshift screen.

　“According to the report,”

　The Minister of the Sacraments spoke slowly, as if calculating the weight of each word.

　"Ever since you took charge of making decisions on demon-related matters, related cases have increased rather than decreased. Over the past ten years, cases related to demons and witchcraft crimes have increased by 47%, while your case clearance rate is only 63% - Brother Gabriel, how do you explain this phenomenon?"

　Father Amos did not answer immediately.

　He looked quietly at the data on the screen. He remembered the name and ending of every victim, which had once made him feel painful.

　According to the conventions of this world, souls that fall into the hands of evil spirits will be subjected to literally endless torture and endless ultimate humiliation.

　It's easy to just look at the statistics, but for Father Amos, behind each statistic is a living person suffering endless torture.

　"Please allow me to defend myself. The International Association of Exorcists has never denied the surge in demonic cases over the past decade, but this is not because of us, but because of—"

　So Father Amos said.

　But before he could finish his words, he heard a dull thud in the auditorium. Not only did it interrupt the priest's words, but it also instantly froze the air in the auditorium.

　"Because of what?"

　A female voice rang out. Though not loud, it carried an undeniable power. Suddenly, everyone fell silent.

　"Watch how you speak, Brother Gabriel."

　The speaker sat at the table.

　She was a tall knight, her beautiful golden hair swaying gently like waves in the wind. Her eyes, like blood-jeweled jade, were as sharp as swords. Even in the midst of a meeting, she wore a long, gold and red dress and armor. Not only was it indestructible, it was also ornate, like a work of art, embellished with inscriptions of prayer. It was slender yet majestic, awe-inspiring.

　Seeing her calm and stern expression, everyone held their breath and dared not say anything.

　Because she is the strongest.

　"Rep" is the "strongest man on earth" invited from outside.

　And this one, the leader of the Knights of the Holy Lance of Longinus - Gwendolyn van Stafia, is the strongest of this generation within the church organization.

　She is not a human, but a vampire who inherited the blessed blood of the Son of God, Jesus.

　A peerless heroine whose fighting power is enough to rank among the top ten in the world.

　Although Father Amos, the "Pope's Exorcist," is also in a superhuman realm, he is still a human being, old and frail, and is always inferior to others.

　But he still had to finish what he was saying.

　"Because of the church's long-standing indifference to these cases."