A cultist walked over and told Ansu that Elder Samantha was calling for him.
Ansu and Celia exchanged a glance; Celia looked toward her teacher, her brows slightly furrowed.
"I'll go with you."
Ansu nodded and walked to Samantha with Celia.
"You are the executor Celia chose?" Samantha asked indifferently as she looked Ansu up and down. "Since you've been lurking in the school, how is your investigation into the Chosen One going?"
Ansu lowered his head. "I'm sorry, Elder Samantha, but I haven't found the Chosen One."
The Chosen One was like a thorn buried in Samantha's heart. Her attitude chilled instantly, and her tone became aggressive. "The Chosen One is hidden right here on this campus. I gave you so much time, and yet you've found nothing?"
"Teacher, it's not his fault!" Celia knew her teacher well and realized she was just venting her anger. "The Chosen One is hidden very well; even I haven't..."
"Enough!" Samantha shot a cold glance at Celia. "Celia, I am very disappointed in you. I entrusted this most important task to you because I trusted you, yet not only have you failed to complete it, but you've also led the cult into such danger!"
Ansu looked up, staring at this acting cult leader of Echoes of Truth with a fair amount of speechlessness.
Wasn't it your own oversight, being fooled by a mole within the cult, that led to everyone being caught in a sting operation by the Church of Holy Light? And now you're looking to shift the blame?
Ansu glanced at the silent Celia and began to explain to Samantha on her behalf. "Elder Samantha, I believe the matter of the Chosen One has been a conspiracy from start to finish."
"Celia and I didn't search extensively for the so-called Chosen One because the news of his appearance at the academy was a complete fabrication!"
"Oh?" Samantha's brows furrowed deeply. "Go on."
Ansu immediately continued, "Within the Church, even the Holy Maiden who heard the so-called divine revelation only believed the Chosen One appeared in Benalu City. No one ever thought the Chosen One would be in the Royal Academy! It was a false tip!"
"That... how is that possible?" Samantha seemed to trust her source of information implicitly. She immediately asked, "How can you be sure?"
"Because Ansu is friends with that Holy Maiden, so he can obtain some internal information," Celia added. "Teacher, I can vouch for Ansu; he is indeed telling the truth!"
"This is impossible..." Samantha frowned in deep thought, seemingly still unable to believe this outcome.
"Elder Samantha, why is it impossible?" Ansu was even more puzzled than she was, thinking to himself how this old woman could be so stubbornly clinging to her views.
"Whoever told you the Chosen One was on campus and whoever told you to rush here today is the cult's mole! I don't understand why you would trust this mole so much rather than believing in Lady Celia."
"Exactly, Teacher!" Celia scanned the confidants behind her and said coldly, "Who exactly was it that notified you?"
"It wasn't them..." Samantha waved her hand. "Furthermore, the information that the Chosen One is at the Royal Academy came from a revelation via divination magic. That was a magic ritual I performed alone."
Ansu's heart suddenly skipped a beat, thinking that this divination magic was actually quite effective since it had managed to pinpoint him...
If the divination ritual was indeed performed by Samantha alone, then it shouldn't be a fake. Samantha herself couldn't be the mole, could she?
But Ansu still held to his conclusion. "Then who was it that notified you?"
The person who made Samantha rush over at the last minute must be the one sent by the mole. This reminded Ansu of the time Elder Hall had tried to recruit him.
"It was... Simon," Samantha's expression became somewhat subtle.
"Elder Simon?" Celia sneered. "I never thought he would betray the teacher as well."
Ansu didn't know why the two had such a reaction. Was the relationship between this Elder Simon and Samantha something extraordinary?
But before he could ask for details, a cultist suddenly rushed forward.
"Elder Samantha, a large force of reinforcements from the Church's Inquisition of Heresy has arrived at the Royal Academy. Furthermore..."
His expression was visibly nervous. "The holy relic kept in the Royal Capital Cathedral has also been brought here by those archbishops!"
The confidants behind Samantha all showed the same nervous expression.
Samantha's brow furrowed tightly, and she immediately ordered, "Quickly, prepare the blood sacrifice ritual! Only a power of the same level can withstand God-Descent!"
"Understood!" The cultists nodded one after another.
Subsequently, they began to arrange a massive and complex black magic circle in the center of the auditorium.
Among everyone, only Celia remained somewhat calm. She glanced at Ansu, who had a strange expression, and explained for him.
"Holy relics are sacred vessels left behind by the gods in the human world, containing a trace of divinity. Through certain means, the Church can briefly borrow the powerful strength of a deity, which is known as God-Descent."
Ansu actually knew about God-Descent; his reaction just now was one of sudden realization. So the cult sacrifice ritual in the plot appeared in this way.
The blood sacrifice ritual of Echoes of Truth was a large-scale sacrificial black magic designed to borrow the power of a fallen deity—specifically, the evil god Ersos.
The Orthodox Church invited a god, and the cult also invited a god. What would follow was, in a sense, a clash of the gods...
While the cultists were hurriedly preparing the sacrifice ritual, Archbishop Terry led the Inquisition of Heresy to gradually surround the area where the auditorium was located.
"Quickly! Surround that auditorium immediately! Not a single one of those cultists who worship the evil god must be allowed to escape!"
Archbishop Terry sneered as he looked toward the auditorium, instructing all the Church elites around him, "According to the intelligence, the leader of Echoes of Truth, Samantha, is also here. The goal of this operation is to conduct a decapitation strike against the cult organization!"
The expressions of the clergy were mostly cautious and solemn. Everyone present, of course, knew the name Samantha.
This old hag who had lived for three hundred years had seen five generations of popes in the Church of Holy Light. The cult organization she led, Echoes of Truth, had caused countless troubles for the Church and was its number one enemy.
"Once this Samantha is dead, Echoes of Truth will never be able to stir up trouble again!" Archbishop Terry revealed a confident smile.
With this mission entirely under his command, he would be the primary hero who eradicated the Church's greatest cult enemy!
And with such a contribution, he would emerge as the frontrunner among the three candidates for the papacy!
He even began to lose himself in a daze of fantasy...
Of how he would wear that papal crown, the symbol of infinite glory...
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