Chapter 178: Erase Someone

Everyone assumed Anthony had planted spies in Lorant City, but never considered they were all in cahoots.

Arriving with Anthony were twelve towering Holy Angels, who gently floated him down the street's end as if his robes hid wheels beneath his feet.

The civilians, soldiers, and onlookers blocking their path parted instantly, clearing a lane; devout believers had already fallen to their knees, bowing in fervent worship—twelve 'Great' Angels! Surely, anyone that tall must be powerful.

Some non-believing mages whispered among themselves: "Did you hear that? Holy Church? Isn't that their nickname? In public, they're supposed to call it the Light Church."

"You don't know? The Eastern Diocese has broken away. They claim the Western Diocese has been seized by the Xieshen 's lackeys, abandoned the Light, and that Archbishop Nicolas is vile, debauched, sleeps with seven virgins daily, rapes the sows in his courtyard, and even sent assassins to kill Archbishop Anthony."

"To purge the Xieshen 's followers, Archbishop Anthony launched a cleansing campaign, but was blocked by the Pope. Refusing to ally with the Xieshen, Anthony severed ties with the Light Church and founded the Holy Church, gaining full support from the entire Eastern Diocese—now we must call him His Holiness Anthony."

The mage who had never heard this before stared blankly, mumbling: "That's that wild? Seven virgins and sows? Why rape sows? I just got back from sea—I had no idea."

The previous mage snorted dismissively: "I knew it. Nobody cares about those seven virgins. The point is, the Holy Church and the Light Church are now split. The Pope's probably dying to kill this Anthony."

"But this is Western Diocese territory—how dare Anthony come here?"

"Who knows how many spies he's planted here? This place might already belong to him."

"Did you notice? That spirit's attire looks just like Archbishop Anthony's—even his staff is identical. It's just that his face is blurred."

"You think so too? Could it be that the shop's female owner is Anthony's spy? That this place is an Eastern Diocese outpost? That's why Anthony arrived so fast—but why would he come himself? Is she his mistress?"

After chattering on, the two spotted familiar companions and went off to find them.

The mage who'd just heard the scandal couldn't resist telling his friends: "Hey hey hey, did you hear? Nicolas rapes seven sows and virgins every day…"

"Hey hey hey, did you hear? Nicolas rapes seven virgin sows every day…"

Once the rumor spread, it quickly twisted out of shape—especially the most outrageous ones. If Nicolas had any awareness in heaven, he'd leap down and strangle Anthony.

Anthony floated before Katie, smiling faintly: "Those who worship my Lord shall be protected by my Lord. Come with me—no one here dares harm you."

The onlookers assumed his "Lord" meant the Light Gods, but only he and Katie knew: my Lord's name is Ang.

Katie involuntarily let Anthony lead her away; when she looked back, the Lord Mayor of Lorant was indeed fuming, lips quivering and eyes bulging—but he said nothing more about arresting her.

At the crossroads, the local diocesan bishop arrived with a squad of Holy Knights, just as Anthony appeared. They'd received word of a divine spirit's descent.

Good heavens! No divine spirit had descended in years—surely a new Holy Maiden had awakened? Quick, quick, protect the Holy Maiden!

The group galloped up; Anthony spotted them from afar and raised his hand to greet them.

The diocesan bishop abruptly halted the group, shouting: "The old Holy Servant is heading to Black Mountain Principality? Too dangerous! Too dangerous! Turn back—protect the old Holy Servant!"

The group immediately reversed direction and galloped off, completely ignoring the twelve Holy Angels at the intersection—and Anthony, hand still raised, looking awkward.

"Old fox." Anthony cursed, then led everyone away through the secret outpost's teleportation array, destroying it before leaving—effectively abandoning the secret base.

Back on his own turf, Anthony relaxed slightly, dismissed the Holy Angels, and began comforting Katie: "It's over. You're safe now. Are you from Patrice?"

"Y-yes…" Katie flustered at Anthony naming her affiliation outright. Everyone knew Patrice's role in the Light Church—its shadowy side. Who knew how Anthony would view her?

"Don't worry. Patrice is mine." No words could have been more reassuring—they were all on the same side.

Still, Katie found it hard to believe. Even if they were allies, Anthony had personally come to rescue her, risking exposure of a secret base with a teleportation array—was this level of treatment normal?

Anthony's eyes widened, his face instinctively softening into a benevolent expression: "What are you saying? We're all children of my Lord—we must love one another, never abandon each other. Especially since you've redefined Holy Light."

But his "benevolent" expression, on his forty-something "old" face, felt strangely off—making the thirty-something beautiful woman Katie blush furiously.

…

Ang sat atop the dragon, his fingers emitting red light that smoothed out the uneven scales and grime on the bone dragon's back into even, tender skin.

"Another newly redefined Holy Light—but why does it work so strangely? Removing blemishes and wrinkles?" Nagelis muttered.

Ang pulled out a rusty iron sword, fired red light at it—zzz zzz—and the rust vanished instantly, revealing the sword's original metal.

"Huh? Removing blemishes means removing impurities? Can it be used this way? Try this." Nagelis rummaged through the Palace of Rest and pulled out a bismuth-silver ornament.

Mithril is a precious magical material with strong affinity for magical elements, used to construct elemental channels and magical networks.

The purity of mithril determines its value: above 98% purity qualifies as mithril for forging magical items; below 98% is only suitable for jewelry—bismuth-silver—and worth a thousand times less.

If Ang could use his blemish-removal technique to purify the bismuth-silver into true mithril usable for magical items, wouldn't he become rich?

Red light shone on the ornament; impurities vanished one by one, the entire piece gleaming with silver radiance.

Nagelis exclaimed excitedly: "It really works! Fantastic! You finally have a power that isn't just for farming!"

Ang pulled out another mithril belt, preparing to test it again.

Nagelis hurriedly said: "Wait—that's not the space artifact we took from those two dragon-hunters? Don't mess with it—you might erase the magic runes… too late."

Nagelis always spoke one step too late; before he finished speaking, the red light had already struck the belt—a faint hum, and the magic rune lock on the space artifact vanished.

"This works too? Your blemish-removal technique can erase someone's magic rune lock? What nonsense? Check what's inside!"

PS: Got too tired from the vaccine, jet lag messed up my schedule—back to routine tomorrow.