Chapter 178: Wiping Away Someone Else's Magical Inscription

Everyone only thought that Anthony had planted informants in Loran City, but never imagined that they were all in on it together.

Arriving along with Anthony were twelve tall Holy Spirit Angels, escorting him as they drifted slowly from the end of the street, as if the feet beneath his robes had grown wheels.

The commoners, soldiers, and idlers blocking their path parted in unison, opening up a lane. Some devout believers could no longer restrain themselves and dropped to their knees, kowtowing in excitement—twelve 'great' angels, after all; surely anyone so tall must be formidable.

Some mages who didn't believe in the gods had already begun whispering to each other: "Did you hear that just now? Holy Church? Isn't that their nickname? In public we're supposed to call them the Church of Light."

"Don't you know? The Eastern Diocese has broken away on its own. They say the Western Diocese has been occupied by the minions of an evil god and has betrayed the Light. The Western Diocese's Archbishop Nicola is a vile man, debauched and wanton, sleeping with seven virgins every day, raping the sows in the backyard, and even sending assassins after Archbishop Anthony."

"To purge the evil god's believers, Archbishop Anthony launched a Cleansing Action, but was blocked by His Holiness the Pope. Unwilling to consort with the evil god, Anthony decided to sever ties with the Holy See of Light and formed his own Holy Church, which received the response of the entire Eastern Diocese. Now we have to call him His Holiness Anthony."

A mage who had never heard of this at all looked completely baffled and muttered: "That explosive? Seven virgins and sows—why rape the sows? I just came back from the sea, I really don't know, y'know."

The mage beside him curled his lip and said disdainfully: "I knew it. Nobody cares about those seven virgins anyway. That's just how it is. The Holy Church and the Church of Light have already split. Right now, the person His Holiness the Pope most wants dead is probably this Lord Anthony."

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

"Who knows how many informants he's planted here. It's not even certain whose territory this is anymore."

"Have you noticed? That soul's outfit looks a lot like Lord Anthony's—even the staff is identical. Just can't make out the face."

"You think so too? Do you think it's possible that the female shopkeeper here is one of Anthony's informants? That this place is a stronghold of the Eastern Diocese, which is why Anthony got here so fast? But still, he wouldn't come personally, would he? Is this female shopkeeper his little mistress?"

After chattering away with all sorts of gossip, the two of them each spotted acquaintances among the crowd and went their separate ways to find their companions.

The mage who had just heard the explosive news couldn't resist sharing it with his companions: "Hey hey hey, have you guys heard? Nicola rapes seven sows and a virgin every day…"

"Hey hey hey, have you guys heard? Nicola rapes seven virgin sows every day…"

Once the rumor began to spread, it quickly warped out of all recognition—especially those particularly explosive ones. If Nicola could know about it up in heaven, he'd surely be so furious he'd jump down and strangle Anthony to death.

Anthony drifted up to Katie's face and gave a slight smile: "Those who believe in my Lord shall receive my Lord's protection. Come with me—no one here dares to harm you."

The onlookers all assumed the 'Lord' he spoke of was the Gods of Light, but only he and Katie knew that the Lord's name was Seeing Ange.

Katie let herself be led away by Anthony without resisting. Looking back, sure enough, the Lord of Loran City was so angry his mustache was bristling and his eyes were bulging, but he said nothing more about 'arresting her.'

When they reached the crossroads, the local district bishop arrived at the head of a squad of Holy Knights at full gallop, just happening to run straight into Anthony. The message they had received was that a soul had descended.

Oh heavens, it had been so many years since any news of a soul's descent—surely a new Saintess must have awakened, right? Quick, quick, quick, protect the Saintess.

The group came galloping up. Anthony spotted them from afar and raised his hand, wanting to give them a greeting.

The district bishop suddenly called a halt to the squad and said loudly: "The old Holy Attendant is going to Heishan? Too dangerous, far too dangerous. Turn back and protect the old Holy Attendant."

The group immediately wheeled about and galloped back the way they had come, not catching so much as a glimpse of the twelve Holy Spirit Angels at the intersection, or of Anthony with his hand still raised in some embarrassment.

"Old fox." Anthony cursed, then led everyone away through the teleportation array at the secret stronghold. Before leaving, he even destroyed the teleportation array, effectively abandoning that secret stronghold.

Back on his own turf, Anthony finally relaxed a little, dismissed the Holy Spirit Angels, and only then began to comfort Katie: "It's fine now, you're safe. You're one of Patry's people?"

"Yes…" Having her identity called out in a single breath by Anthony left Katie a little flustered. Everyone knew what role Patry played within the Church of Light—the shadowy side of the Church. Who knew what view Anthony would take of her.

"Don't be nervous, Patry is my man." No words could have been more comforting than that. They were all on the same side.

Still, Katie found it a little hard to believe. Even though they were on the same side, for Anthony to come rescue her personally, not hesitating to expose a secret stronghold with a teleportation array—that level of treatment was far too high, wasn't it?

Anthony's eyes widened, and he instinctively put on a kindly expression: "What are you saying? We're all children of my Lord, we must love one another and not give up on each other lightly. Besides, you've redefined Holy Light."

But this 'kindly' expression of his, on his 'old' face of some forty-odd years, looked rather incongruous—enough to make Katie, the beautiful woman of about thirty, blush a rosy pink.

……

Seeing Ange sat on the dragon's back, red light shooting from his fingertips, smoothing all the uneven scales and dragon grime on the bone dragon's back into flat, even, baby-soft skin.

"Yet another Holy Light that's been completely redefined, but why is the effect so strange? Removing spots and wrinkles?" Lord Nai Ge Li Si said, puzzled.

Seeing Ange pulled out a rusty iron sword. Red light shot from his fingertips, sizzling across it, and in no time the rust was cleaned away completely, revealing the sword's true color.

"Huh? Removing spots equals removing impurities? It can be used like that too? Here, try this." Lord Nai Ge Li Si rummaged through the Hall of Repose and produced a piece of bismuth-silver jewelry.

Mithril is a very precious magical material. It has a strong affinity for magical elements, which is why it can be used in magical circuits. Constructing elemental channels and magical networks both require it.

The purity of mithril determines its value. A purity of ninety-eight or above is mithril fit for forging Magical Items; anything below ninety-eight can only be used as bismuth-silver for jewelry. The two differ in value by a thousandfold.

If Seeing Ange could use the spot-removal technique to strip the impurities out of bismuth-silver and turn it into mithril usable for Magical Items—wouldn't that be a way to get rich?

The red light shone onto it, and the impurities on the bismuth-silver jewelry vanished one by one, until the whole piece gleamed with a silvery shine.

Lord Nai Ge Li Si said excitedly: "It really works, that's wonderful! You finally have an ability that isn't for farming."

Seeing Ange rummaged out another item—a mithril belt—and prepared to try again.

Lord Nai Ge Li Si hurriedly said: "Wait a moment, isn't this the spatial artifact we got from those two dragon-slaying fellows? Don't mess around, be careful the magical inscription gets wiped away… ah well, too late."

Lord Nai Ge Li Si's words were always one step slower than Seeing Ange's actions. Before he had finished speaking, the red light had already sizzled onto the belt. With a hum and a faint ripple, the spatial artifact's magical inscription lock vanished.

"That works too? Your spot-removal technique can wipe away other people's magical inscription locks? What kind of joke is that? Quick, let's see what's inside."

PS: Getting the vaccine wore me out, my sleep schedule is completely thrown off. I'll resume the usual schedule tomorrow.