When A Mage Revolts

Within just one morning, all sorts of rumors had spread like wildfire in the Kingdom of Helius.

"That… Have you seen the notice on the streets? I heard that similar notices have been posted up in the neighboring town as well. This is being talked about everywhere."

"The things written on it are way too terrible…"

"Is it true that the Church put His Majesty under house arrest? No wonder His Majesty hasn't appeared in so many days… I don't understand, why won't the Church serve god properly, why must they do such things?"

"It's all fake! All messed up nonsense! All mages should go to hell!"

Although no one dared to discuss such matters in public, but behind closed doors, hidden in small places, the noise of discussion had never ceased. Whether in agreement with or against it, the people of the Kingdom of Helius expressed great passion for this issue, as though color was suddenly springing into their once black and white lives.

The Church had always advocated abstinence. Although such things were very difficult to implement at the lower levels, but life in this kingdom was still rather repressive under the influence of their surroundings.

Due to the explosion amidst the quiet repression, as well as guidance by people with an agenda, the topic of the "posters" was completely turned into the biggest news in the Kingdom of Helius. The power of influence was great; even the cities where no posters had been put up were affected. Within mere hours, even privately circulated copies of the poster comics emerged.

After all, they had first heard that the King had been kidnapped, followed by news that the King had actually been rescued by the house arrest the Church had placed His Majesty under. Such a huge twist in the news was too irresistible in an era without entertainment.

Furthermore, the reaction by the Church caused them to feel even more curious.

Unlike before, their response this time was extremely slow. The local authorities only began to clear out the posters around ten in the morning. While the orders issued by the capital were being passed down, those in the middle were still ignorant about what had happened and moved exceptionally slowly. Some officers had even disappeared mysteriously.

It was only in the evening of the same day that the Church released a statement:

"His Majesty the King has been controlled by the mages using witchcraft and has lost the ability to make rational decisions. Those mages have now begun to use His Majesty to confuse the hearts of men and attempting to spread the devil's words. The congregation of the kingdom must remain calm and stay true to the faith. Do not believe in their lies. God will forever bless the devout people."

There were still many who supported the announcement of this notice, but the wave of the "poster" issue did not settle down just because of it. The people could not help but inquire more about it, wishing to find out who it was that possessed such capabilities to put up posters all over the kingdom in a single night, and also what had happened to the government officials who had vanished.

It was a pity that the Church was confused as well and not in a position to give them the answers they wanted.

"...What on earth are those men under your command doing?"

In St. Peter's Cathedral, with a scowl on his face, Grant kept quiet for a long time before tossing the poster in his hand onto the ground, directing his question coldly to the people in the main hall.

Bishops, priests, Holy Knights… Everyone had their heads lowered and did not move, afraid to even breathe. The entire main hall was as silent as the grave.

"Can nobody explain this to me?" Seeing that, Grant's tone of voice turned even colder. "Benjamin might have escaped with the King, back to the Academy of Magic… Is this the result of your investigation? If they had escaped back to the academy, then who was it that put up all this nonsense?"

At the bottom, a few priests could not help but tremble when they heard this. Nevertheless, still no one opened their mouths to answer. No one dared to even raise their heads, what more to look at Grant in the eyes once.

The fear in the main hall spread.

"...Bishop Harold. Explain." After yet another bout of silence that lasted for who knew how long, Grant finally spoke, calling them out by name.

The one called was a young bishop. Immediately, both his legs began to tremble a little. He gulped, and gathered his courage. Lifting his head, he said, "Your Highness the Pope, this matter…"

Bang!

With a soft sound, limited light silks flew out from Grant's hand and directly pierced through the bishop's arm. Within the next second, as everyone watched with stunned expressions, the bishop let out a scream. His entire right arm was covered in Holy Light, and there were smoke and ashes.

He immediately fell to the ground, unconcious from the excruciating pain.

Everyone was shocked.

"As the person responsible for intelligence in the kingdom, you have not gathered any information despite such a huge incident happening. This is god's punishment towards you," Grant looked at him coldly, speaking in a mechanical voice.

It was obvious that the bishop was unable to hear Grant's words properly now. The others around him were the ones who listened instead, and could not help but shiver.

Some of them had even begun to pray secretly, in their hearts.

Under such an oppressive atmosphere, finally, it was the oldest bishop who raised his head and spoke, in a hoarse voice, "Your Highness the Pope, mistakes should be punished. It was my inadequate planning that caused the devil to kidnap the King, please… Please punish me on behalf of god, Your Highness."

In a moment, Grant's icy scowl shifted to him.

"Bishop Grove. You are almost ninety years of age and has served god for many years. You have always been devout," Faced with the eldest bishop here, his voice seemed to have softened the slightest bit. "Having experienced three consecutive changes of the pope, you stayed here still, as always. Contributing numerous achievements…"

Hearing this, the old bishop finally relaxed slightly.

Under such a situation, indeed, only he could step out now and act as a mediator. The atmosphere in the main hall seemed to warm up a little. The others around him quietly gave him grateful glances.

Thus, he lowered his head, and continued to speak, "You are too kind, Your Highness. No matter how much I have contributed, it is still difficult to cover up the mistakes I've made. Your Highness the Pope, please punish me."

Bang!

There was another soft sound, but this time, the limited light silk directly pierced through the old bishop's heart. All of a sudden, the old bishop widened his eyes, and with a look of disbelief on his face, fell to the ground with a thump.

"..."

Everyone was gaping in shock, rooted to the spot.

Grant opened his mouth to speak, his voice cruel and indifferent, "Who permitted you to speak? I was not finished… You have contributed numerous achievements, which is worthy of praise, but deciding to ambush Benjamin Lithur without authorization has directly caused us to lose the King. You have committed an error so great that you may go and make your confession personally to god!"

Even after he had finished speaking, the people there were still not recovered from their shock. They stared blankly at the old bishop's corpse, not daring to believe what had just happened.

The Pope… Killed Bishop Grove?

The one with the greatest seniority, the one who had been a bishop the longest and had received the deepest trust of every Pope, possessing the highest degree of prestige in the entire Church, that Bishop Grove?

Oh god…

What had happened in the Mountains of Magical Beasts?

"Your Highness the Pope, you must calm down, please!" A young priest could not help but blurt out. "We are unable to explain ourselves, having committed such a grave error, but isn't the urgent task at hand now to fix all of this? Bishop Grove, he… His sin should not have been punished by death! You should not be doing this!"

The entire main hall fell silent once more.

At that moment, the people around the young priest looked at him as though he was a dead man.

"...Who permitted you to speak?" Grant narrowed his eyes, looking unconcernedly at the young priest. "Who are you? Why have I never seen you before? What right do you have to enter St. Peter's Cathedral?"

The young priest was startled, and replied instinctively, "I, I am Colwyn, I was transferred from the church in the town of Hendrie to the capital last month. I am in charge of guiding the congregation-"

Buzz!

With a glaring flash of Holy Light, a low buzz sounded. Everyone instantly closed their eyes due to the flash. By the time their eyes were opened again, the spot where the young priest had just been standing was now empty.

As though he had never existed at all.

Grant walked down from the stage, his expression frighteningly terrible. Everyone bowed their heads and trembled, but he did not give them another glance, leaving the place through the back door without a word.