Chapter 316: Stop!

  The defenses of Celeste's prison were not too strict. Being in the central area of the Church, a place where the top swordsmen and white mages were everywhere outside, it seemed there was no need for further precautions. So Ethan and Aimee didn't expend much effort, knocking out the guards and entering.

  Most of the side-by-side cells were empty, only the innermost one was occupied. That was where Lancelot, to punish his own disciple, had imprisoned Talise to make her reflect on her actions.

  When Ethan appeared before Talise with Aimee, she didn't seem to show much surprise, just looking at Ethan coldly and saying, "You really came? What are you here for?"

  She no longer wore her usual heroic and extraordinary armor and military attire, but the white linen clothes, which should have been prison garb, actually looked quite good on her. The figure and aura of a woman, usually completely hidden by the constraints of her armor, could now be seen.

  But now was not the time to look; Ethan even found it a bit difficult to meet her gaze directly. He reached into his robes and took out a teleportation scroll.

  "Of course, to get you two out."

  "Don't be so presumptuous, who asked you to save us?" Talise's face was still as cold as frost. She looked at Aimee, and only then did her gaze and tone soften. "Sister, I'm truly sorry. I haven't taken good care of you during this time. Don't worry, the Master has already promised me that once this matter is over, he will let you enter the Holy Hall to cultivate, to become a part of Celeste..."

  "Sister, what nonsense are you talking about? Let's all leave together," Aimee said, looking at Talise in confusion.

  "I'm not leaving. Where would I go? It's too late to leave now anyway." Talise shook her head, looking at Ethan. The look in her eyes was very complex, seemingly with some mockery, some reluctance, and something even more inexplicable and intense. She revealed an equally complex smile. Shaking her head, she said somewhat bleakly, "You shouldn't have come here, walking into a trap. Even if I don't call out for the guards to catch you now, you can't escape."

  In the center of The Radiant Citadel, in the Grand Hall of Light.

  The great hall, as wide as a small plaza, was empty, with only the Pope sitting on the throne at the far end, meditating with his eyes closed. Beside him was Lancelot. On a stone platform not far before them, the pouch containing The Black Star's hilt lay quietly.

  "So... he didn't come here directly?" the Pope, who seemed to be dozing, suddenly opened his eyes slightly, looked at the pouch before him, and smiled. "Based on the previous information, I thought he would really try every means to force his way in."

  "Is it just him alone, Your Majesty?"

  "It seems those old fellows like Sandro and Agrael aren't interested in accompanying him into this danger... I don't know whether to say it's our good fortune, or theirs..." The Pope stood up from his seat, stroking his beard. "It seems he won't come to find us proactively. We should be the ones to go and welcome him."

  "Use the teleportation scroll, quickly. You go first," Ethan said suddenly in a low voice in the prison. Although everything seemed normal for now, his intuition, from Talise's attitude, told him that something was wrong.

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  "But..." Aimee hesitated. Ethan had already given her the prepared teleportation scroll, but she insisted on waiting to rescue Talise so they could all use it together.

  "Use it now!" Ethan was practically roaring.

  The teleportation scroll unfurled in Aimee's hands, and the unique blue light of spatial magic flickered. But it only flickered for a moment. A surge of white magical power suddenly erupted from the surrounding air, forcibly tearing and crushing the teleportation magic until it dissipated. Aimee remained where she was, not having been teleported away.

  "How can this be? Is this... Spatial Lock?" Ethan looked around, full of doubt and alarm. But even with his perceptive ability from Meditations on Truth, he was completely unaware of any abnormalities in the surroundings. But even a Spatial Lock, which could prevent teleportation magic, couldn't be maintained for such a long time.

  He had not felt at all where that sudden magical surge had come from. And it had just dissipated into the air after canceling the teleportation magic, as if it were just an attribute of the space here.

  "It's not Spatial Lock. Celeste doesn't have something that precious." Following this voice, Lancelot's figure appeared at the prison entrance.

  "You..." Ethan was even more surprised, so much so that he almost jumped. It wasn't impossible for someone of Lancelot's level to track him silently, but it was absolutely impossible to track him to such a close distance and then suddenly reappear as if popping out of the ground.

  Even more impossible was that he saw other people behind Lancelot, many other people.

  "Didn't Agrael ever tell you not to come to The Radiant Citadel?" Following an old, but very steady and gentle voice, the Pope also walked into the cell after Lancelot. "There's no Spatial Lock here, but there are people here. Many people."

  The Pope was not tall, but the moment he walked in and stood there, Ethan had the illusion that this old man seemed to be standing on a giant high platform, looking down on him. Even Lancelot, who was originally much taller than him, seemed rather unremarkable.

  Following the Pope's words, many people immediately appeared within Ethan's line of sight. The surrounding walls crumbled one after another. Dozens of Templar, with extreme efficiency, dismantled all the walls surrounding the prison within a few breaths, leaving only the four corners to support the roof.

  "Actually, I've wanted to meet you for a long time, but I only had the chance now. Surrender," the Pope said lightly, looking at Ethan.

  Although Ethan had never seen this old man, from the calm aura he exuded, and his natural and composed demeanor, he knew that this white-haired, white-bearded old man was the current Pope, Gervin Magnus.

  Ethan did not speak. It wasn't the first time he had heard someone say "surrender" to him. He normally wouldn't pay much attention to such nonsense, but in the current situation, it no longer seemed like nonsense. Dozens of Templar, high-ranking priests densely packed from above, were surrounding the place. Among them were the three Templar Knights who had been with Lancelot in Nighon, and Cardinal Adela was also present. In such an encirclement, surrender indeed seemed to be the only choice.

  It was a burst of anger and injustice from an unknown source, or perhaps it was his nature to never surrender. The key was that he still had the capital to give it a try. Ethan didn't even give the thought of surrender a single consideration. He just moved on to another, more practical thought.

  Outside The Radiant Citadel, not far away, the ground on a small mound split open. Two figures emerged from underground and immediately sped towards The Radiant Citadel at great speed. The swordsmen guards on the castle's periphery immediately spotted the two intruders, and while sounding the alarm, they also moved to intercept them.

  These were just two men, empty-handed and barely dressed. One was tall and strong, built like a fortress of muscle, while the other was much smaller. But against these two men, the elite swordsmen seemed as fragile as paper. Anyone who stood in their path was pulled and smashed to pieces by their bare hands. The two men did not indulge in slaughter, but just sprinted towards the interior of The Radiant Citadel.

  This was Rodhart and Sylka. Although he already had a solid plan, Ethan had brought these two Death Knight along just in case. However, their intense deathly aura was impossible to hide in a place like The Radiant Citadel, which was full of priests, so he had only buried them outside the city. And now, it seemed this careful precaution was indeed necessary.

  Even a cheetah running at full speed was no match for the speed of these two Death Knight. The two undead creatures sped towards them at a speed beyond any living creature. Anyone or any building that tried to block their path was shattered. On their path of advance, houses were collapsing, and bricks, stones, and limbs were thrown everywhere, like the monstrous waves kicked up by two sailfish speeding across the sea. The mages and priests wanted to use magic, but the speed, which was nearly impossible to track with the eye, made it completely impossible for them to aim.

  "Is this your reason for not surrendering?" the Pope looked at the two Death Knight charging towards him and smiled coldly. "Don't stop them. Let them come here." His voice wasn't loud, but it echoed throughout the entire The Radiant Citadel.

  In the blink of an eye, Sylka and Rodhart, bringing with them the bloody wind of their collision and slaughter, charged over. Their figures did not stop, but rushed directly towards the Pope. The footsteps of the two Death Knight were as dense as a hundred drums being beaten at the same time. The surrounding Templar had long since surrounded the Pope in the center, drawing their swords and holding up their shields. The priests all began to chant their prayers.

  At this moment, the Pope in the center of the encirclement stretched out his hand, pointed at the two Death Knight who were about to crash into the wall of people before him, and said lightly, "Stop."

  It was as if time had suddenly frozen. The two Death Knight, who had been advancing with unstoppable force, crushing and smashing everything in their path, suddenly stopped moving. These two unstoppable monsters, at the Pope's single command, froze in place on the spot, then collapsed like two mud sculptures.