Chapter 101: You Can't Plant Angels

This time, Silver Coin came back together with Anthony, and in his heart he was all prepared: when Anthony came to borrow money from him, he would give him a good dressing-down, then slam the coins right into his face.

Because Anthony had remade himself a brand-new body, not a single hair on him belonged to the old one; the only thing he carried was that bishop's badge, but that badge wasn't a spatial artifact, so he didn't have a single coin on him.

Coming back empty like this, even stepping out to buy something to eat costs money, right? When the time comes, won't he have to borrow a little first?

That's exactly what I'll do — serve you right for grabbing my throat and threatening me.

But Silver Coin's hopes came to nothing. Anthony went out for a stroll, and went from being a penniless vagrant to being a magnificently decked-out archbishop, with more than three magic rings on each hand, the gems on them as big as longan fruit.

If anyone else wore rings like that, it would only make them look like a nouveau riche, but when Anthony wore them that way, paired with a high-collared ceremonial robe and a red grand cape draped down his back, it instantly gave off an aura of solemnity and sanctity.

Too bad his bishop's crozier was left back at the Holy See; otherwise, paired with a shoulder-high bishop's crozier, he wouldn't just look solemn and holy — he could also crack someone's skull open with one swing.

Once fully dressed, Anthony tidied up his hair, then spread his hands and asked Silver Coin: "How is it? No problems, right?"

"No problems — solemn, holy, handsome." Silver Coin said insincerely, paused, then asked:

"Why don't you just go straight back to the Holy See? Why take such a huge detour to come here? Didn't you say that, under the identity of one blessed by the gods, under the protection of the Twelve Sacred Angels, you would return to the Holy See, ascend to the position of Pope, seize the power that Nicholas cares about most, then beat his head in and make sure he couldn't rest easy even in death?"

"Right, that's exactly what I said, but the Pope isn't dead." Anthony spread his hands.

"Ah! This…" Oh right, the Pope isn't dead. Silver Coin had eagerly and proactively come back with Anthony, thinking he'd get to latch onto a Pope-thick thigh, and now he's being told the Pope isn't dead? Then what was the point of all his bragging before?

The Pope isn't even dead, and the position is for life — so what's the point of ascending to the Papacy? Does he expect them to wait for the Pope to die?

"Impossible. When it comes to revenge, even one day late feels too late. Right now I'm just making preparations. Before, I still had to consider the reactions of the gods of Light, but now I don't need to hold back. Do you know what the Black Warrior Emperor is best at?" Anthony asked with a smile.

Silver Coin thought for a moment, then said hesitantly: "Running up debts? You've already racked up debts of over a million magic crystals, and I've never seen anyone run up that much personal credit debt."

The smile froze on Anthony's face. He said awkwardly: "Alright, alright, I know. I won't owe Lord Seeing Ange a single coin, don't worry. What I'm actually best at isn't this kind of sneaky business, but integration — bringing together, organizing, and coordinating the forces of every side for my own use."

After a pause, Anthony's expression suddenly dimmed, and he asked: "Do you know what the most terrifying thing is, if the gods are gone?"

"???" What does that mean? How did the topic jump so far?

"If the gods are gone, the most terrifying thing is the human heart." Anthony sighed at length: "By then, who knows how many people will die."

"What do you mean?" Silver Coin listened with a completely blank face: "Why would people die? Isn't it a good thing if the gods are gone?"

"Honestly, some of you guys in the Church of Light are real scumbags. You constantly extort us law-abiding merchants — taking things for free, demanding things for free, forcing donations and forced purchases, bullying entire markets. If we don't donate, you say our shops are unclean and need prayer-purification, and one purification drags on for over ten days. If you're sensible and slip them something, it gets purified in a single day. Infuriating." Silver Coin said indignantly.

Anthony said helplessly: "Well, isn't that exactly the human heart? Without the gods' restraint, it won't be this simple. If we go by the time the Sovereign disappeared to calculate, these thousand years have been the most peaceful era the Prime Material Plane has ever known."

Silver Coin blinked. He seemed to understand, yet also seemed not to. Taking things for free, forced donations and forced purchases, bullying entire markets — and that's already the better option? Then what would the worse option look like?

"Actually, the truly powerful ones are even more terrifying than gods — the Mage of Truth, the Sword of Truth, the Godslayer, and the Church…"

Just then, Anthony's expression suddenly shifted, and he said: "They're here. Alright, get ready — wake them all up."

Those "them" naturally referred to the twelve Sacred Spirit Angels.

"Huh? I'm the one going to call them? I don't need to step aside? I'm a lich, you know." Silver Coin was stunned — they actually wanted him to wake those angels?

Anthony looked him up and down, then said: "Actually, there's not a single trace of undeath on you — at least I can't sense any. In fact, if you're not at ease, you can have Lord Seeing Ange shelter you. With Holy Light protecting your body, even if someone tries to scry you, all they'll see is the shelter of Holy Light."

"Really? Let me try?" Silver Coin closed his eyes and murmured: "I am currently pursuing the debt owed to my lord Seeing Ange; please grant me Lord Seeing Ange's shelter."

Anthony's brow furrowed as he listened: "Is it Seeing Ange who owes the debt, or someone else who owes Seeing Ange? Your phrasing is ambiguous." What made it even more annoying was that the "someone else" was him. Although he had no intention of welching on the debt, being reminded of it in his ear all day was still irritating.

Silver Coin said devoutly: "My lord will understand what I mean." As soon as he finished speaking, Silver Coin's body slowly began to glow, cloaked in a layer of holy radiance.

The twelve angels were awakened, and as expected, they did not see through Silver Coin's situation. Six in front and six behind, they flanked Anthony as he pushed open the great doors and walked outside.

The building outside was already packed with nearly all the high-ranking officers of the Holy Blade Army. They were whispering among themselves, trading information in great puzzlement, because every one of them had received an order signed by Archbishop Anthony summoning them here.

But wasn't Archbishop Anthony rumored to be dead? And the kind of dead where not even his bones remained — could someone be impersonating Archbishop Anthony to trick them?

That was what most of them were thinking, so each of them had brought their troops along. Right now the place was completely surrounded by Holy Blade soldiers; at a single command, they could level the whole area to the ground.

Still, before that, everyone wanted to see just who was playing tricks.

However, when they saw what came through the door — two angels… uh, no, not two, four… six… twelve…

When the twelve angels flanked Anthony and filed out, every high-ranking officer of the Holy Blade Army was dumbfounded, staring wide-eyed, at a loss.

Anthony's expression was solemn and grave — utterly different from how he was in front of Ange and the others — carrying an aura of majestic authority:

"A blasphemer betrayed the gods and threw in with evil gods, using the power of evil gods to blind the gods, setting a trap to ambush me. I was torn to pieces, yet by divine grace I was blessed, and returned from death."

"Destroying the blasphemer is easy, but more followers of evil gods have already hidden themselves within the Church. The gods say: cleanse them. The holy river must not be polluted by the evil gods — that is why I have returned. The gods say: you are too old — and so I have grown younger by more than ten years."

"The gods also say: take up the sword of Holy Light, for the power of the evil gods must be purified by Holy Light. That is why I have brought the sword of Holy Light, the twelve Sacred Spirit Angels, and more than three thousand Sacred Spirits now preparing."

"I have come here first, far from the center of power, far from the corruption of the evil gods — those who have been polluted should be fewest here. Will you follow me to destroy the blasphemers and purify the power of the evil gods?"

Everyone exchanged glances, at a loss.

In the crowd, Silver Coin saw Patriarch Patrichiu.

The other party's face was flickering with suspicion and uncertainty. After a few shifts of expression, Patrichiu stepped out first, dropped to one knee, and said: "I am willing to follow you, my lord, to destroy the evil gods and purify the Light!"

"I am willing to follow you, my lord, to destroy the evil gods and purify the Light!" With someone taking the lead, and with the twelve Sacred Spirit Angels right before their eyes, and with Anthony's face that had grown younger by more than ten years, the rest no longer hesitated and one after another swore their allegiance.

Effortlessly, Anthony reclaimed command of an army with an extremely high degree of autonomy and a very large establishment.

……

In the Resting Abyss, things were not going as smoothly for Anthony. Lord Nai Ge Li Si was at his wits' end, because he had discovered that the remaining three thousand-plus angel skeletons were utterly useless.

Even if Seeing Ange granted them souls, these sacred remains were, at best, three thousand-plus mindless low-level skeletons — completely unable to unleash Holy Light Radiance the way the angel skeletons could.

Lord Nai Ge Li Si's vision of three thousand-plus mobile Holy Light cannons could not be realized at all.

At this rate, it would be better to sell them all to Anthony.

Seeing Ange had already used Spirit Light to restore flesh to a few of the angels, but they wandered about at random like ordinary skeletons. When the Resting Wind came, they dug holes and hid in pits, or ducked under the World Tree.

Sigh — he'd thought it too simple after all.

Hearing the sound of digging, Lord Nai Ge Li Si turned around and couldn't resist covering his face: "What are you doing now? You can't plant angels."

PS: Yesterday I got over eight hundred votes. I originally planned to do a ten-chapter burst update to repay everyone's votes, but sadly I couldn't write it. I need six hours to write one chapter, so right now I feel especially guilty — doubly guilty. I can't even eat, I only had a little hotpot. Sigh.