Chapter 291: Holy Clergy Members from All Over (Part 5)
The Holy Land, Temple Hall.
Exquisitely crafted silver chandeliers, clean white candles, and the Son of God statue situated right in the center...
The entire hall exuded an aura of holiness and solemnity.
Following instructions, William's trio arrived at a specific location in the courtyard. His status was not high enough to enter the inner hall.
Although Caroline belonged to the Medici family, the latter had dispatched many teams this time.
Out of respect for the Church, only Falco received an invitation.
Other Holy Clergy Members arrived one after another. Judging from their attire and styling, these people obviously also came from churches outside the Holy Land.
William observed for a while and found that besides himself, most of the people present brought holy artifacts.
It seems everyone has the same idea—they say holy artifacts can't be used in the Land of the Holy War, but what if?
At the same time, outside the doors.
Another team of Holy Clergy Members arrived at the assembly site.
There were seven of them in total, each carrying a large black backpack that looked completely stuffed with items.
This team moved with extreme discipline.
Whenever someone needed to do something else, the nearest companion would immediately move closer to them and help keep watch over the surroundings.
This seemed to have become their instinct, coordinating with each other without the slightest hesitation.
One of them jogged to the very front of the team.
"Ms. Guerrero, the items have been checked. Besides food and medicine needed to sustain life, holy artifacts to prevent evil auras, and ancient texts recording the surnames of demons have all been brought."
"Very good. Observe the others more after we go in later; we might be able to discover some other clues," Olivia Guerrero said.
It turned out she was the exact nun who had handled the "Mary Shaw" commission with William.
Olivia still had that unapproachable look. Paired with her exquisite facial features, it exuded a cold and glamorous temperament.
With her status as an Archbishop's daughter, she could absolutely enter the inner hall.
But Olivia proactively came to the courtyard and deliberately chose a position close to the main doors.
"Ms. Guerrero, are we... not going in?" the previous member spoke up.
"And I've always had a question. We've already completed spiritual awakening; we shouldn't need to eat food."
Olivia turned her head and glanced at the other party: "You just graduated from the 'Safety Regulations Training Camp', right?"
"Yes," that person nodded.
"Information gathering before an exorcism, escape preparations... I got an 'Excellent' rating in all these training contents."
"Very good," Olivia nodded. "But 'Excellent' doesn't mean experienced."
"Take the food issue you mentioned, for example. Anyone who enters the Land of the Holy War will lose their Holy Power. Will they then also regain the need to eat?"
"And our position," she said, looking at the others as well.
"This Priest Order selection is very important. The higher-ups will definitely ensure everyone is clear about the mission content, so it makes no difference where we stand."
"But once an accident occurs, the position we are standing in allows us to leave first."
The group of companions all revealed surprised expressions upon hearing this.
"M-Ms. Guerrero, this is the Holy Land... nothing could possibly happen, right..." the previous team member said cautiously.
Olivia smiled slightly and shook her head: "Do not bet your life on 'possibilities'."
"Anything can happen, so in actual exorcisms, you must make decisions based on real-time situations."
"This was told to me by a professional exorcist in the past. Now I am giving this sentence to you."
The team members were awed without fully understanding.
"Is it the one you frequently mention, the pioneer of safety regulations exorcism?"
"Yes. Everything you have learned originated from that priest."
"Does that priest also come from a Vatican family? You haven't mentioned the other party's identity all this time."
"He..." Olivia thought for a moment, "He doesn't like to be too ostentatious."
"Professional, humble... this priest must be a master of noble character," the few people praised.
"If we had such an exorcist in our team, I believe the Guerrero family's probability of being selected would greatly increase."
"Alright, the idle chatter ends here," Olivia interrupted them.
"The duties of the Priest Order are sacred and important. You can't get in just by thinking of relying on others."
"You are right to lecture us. We will immediately start planning evacuation routes for the Dome Temple..."
On the other side of the courtyard.
Quite a few people had also gathered here.
Before long, four new Holy Clergy Members arrived in the corridor.
The leader among them was a nun. She wore a loose robe, revealing only a cold face.
Among the companions behind her.
One of them leaned on a holy staff, hunching his back. He constantly looked left and right, stopping in place after walking a certain distance.
"Sis... is it really okay to just walk in like this? What if the exit is blocked?" the young man leaning on the staff said.
"Young Master Ruen, this is the Holy Land," a curly-haired man beside the young man spoke.
"How about leaving a few holy artifacts on the way? If we get lost, we can at least find the direction," Ruen said, looking at the plants planted along the edge of the corridor.
Another short man covered his head: "Lord Ruen, this is the Holy Land..."
"But..." Ruen had an anxious face.
"But you all know, I haven't rested for over a day! What if..."
He tugged at the leading nun.
"Vera... Sis! Look how many Holy Clergy Members there are here. Why don't you talk to the higher-ups..." Ruen leaned close to the nun's arm.
"Take advantage of the crowd and gather everyone for a major evil sweep. It won't take much time."
"Ouch!" Ruen rubbed his nose. "Why did you suddenly stop walking."
Vera Clouseau didn't speak, but her fists were clenched tightly together.
A moment later.
Thwack!
A bump appeared on Ruen's head.
"This is the Holy Land! What would evil spirits and demons run here for! Tourism!" Vera raised her fist and said.
This voice attracted the attention of some people around.
Seeing this, Vera dragged Ruen and quickly left.
Not long after, in a secluded corner of the courtyard.
Vera held a twenty-year vintage holy artifact, a trace of physical pain flashing in her eyes.
But after hesitating for a moment, she still placed the holy artifact on the ground.
Immediately, an invisible barrier formed around the four of them.
"Is this okay now?" She looked at Ruen and said.
But Ruen shook his head, weakly pointing to another crucifix on her chest.
"This isolation magic array is for the four of us. When I rest... I still need a small, individual magic array."
Hearing this, Vera pressed her head: "Lord... why did I agree to this."
The two people beside them looked at each other and tacitly turned their backs.
Ultimately, Vera still decided to accept her fate.
She took off the crucifix from her chest, then chanted scriptures, hovering the crucifix in front of Ruen.
The latter immediately sat on the ground, opening only one eye, and before long, faint snoring sounds came from him.
"To think Young Master Ruen's illness would act up even in the Holy Land," the curly-haired man said.
"But there are no dead spirits around. The way I see it... it's because the Young Master hasn't slept for too long, and his illness relapsed here." The short man pointed to his head.
Ahem... "Ms. Vera, how about we try removing the isolation magic array?" The curly-haired man hurriedly changed the subject.
"Absolutely not." Vera Clouseau frowned and shook her head. "Have you forgotten what happened at Miso Cathedral last time?"
The two recalled a few months ago and were instantly speechless.
At that time, Young Master Ruen had accidentally turned off the magic array after falling asleep, resulting in an evil spirit invasion.
That experience was quite perilous.
Ultimately, the two could only sigh.
They all came from the Miso Cathedral in North America and were also members of the Clouseau family.
As a local diocese-level family, the two of them used to be highly respected by believers.
But all this changed after Archbishop Titus's son, this Young Master Ruen, fell ill.
For some unknown reason, their Young Master suddenly developed a constitution that "attracted evil."
As long as he entered a state of sleep, he would attract many evil spirits.
There was even a demon once!
This matter was simply unbelievable!
Those evil spirits either wanted to possess Lord Ruen's body or planned to pollute the land around him.
But the most common thing was them hurling abuse at Young Master Ruen.
The two found it hard to imagine what kind of heinous crime the Young Master had committed to make evil spirits and demons hate him so much.
But when asked by others, this lord acted extremely innocent.
For a time, this matter became a taboo at Miso Cathedral.
And Young Master Ruen, in order to keep evil from approaching, began to drastically reduce his sleep time.
For this reason, Lord Archbishop also looked for many methods.
But in the end, they could only use small magic arrays to let him get a small amount of sleep, so he wouldn't die suddenly from overwork.
But it was very difficult to continue his theological studies.
Therefore, Young Master Ruen was criticized by many people within the family, who all wanted to force the former to give up existing resources.
But Lord Archbishop Titus didn't intend to compromise.
According to Lord Archbishop's information, not all the Holy Clergy Members coming here this time were participating in the Priest Order selection.
A significant portion of people came "proactively" to join the rescue operation.
As long as one could come out alive from the Land of the Holy War, regardless of whether they gained anything, they could make one request to the Church higher-ups.
This was exactly the purpose for which Lord Archbishop sent them here.
A few minutes later.
The eye Ruen had closed reopened.
"Are you an evil spirit or a human!" His body was tense, his gaze staring straight at Vera.
Thwack!
Hiss~
"Know now?"
"K-know now!"
William sat in place, quietly fusing the divine marrow.
Bettis was also chanting the Bible.
Caroline beside them, however, couldn't sit still, standing up to look around from time to time.
"Strange... why hasn't it started yet. Are there still people who haven't arrived."
As soon as her voice fell, a wave of discussion broke out ahead.
Caroline stood on tiptoe and saw two teams walk into the inner hall.
One team of Holy Clergy Members wore pure white robes. Wide white shawls covered part of their arms, with some golden patterns embellished on them, looking incomparably holy.
The other team uniformly wore black long robes. The form-fitting cut and high-quality fabric made them look very textured.
"It's those ancient families arriving!"
"The one standing at the very front in the white robe is Kalvis Saul. It's said this lord possesses four Brands."
"Not only that, the family behind him was the first generation of kings in the Holy Land back then, but later rebelled..."
"Shh! Are you tired of living!"
Caroline turned around upon hearing this: "Although you deliberately lowered your voices, actually the people next to us all heard you."
Those two instantly had constipated expressions.
William covered his face and hurriedly pulled this "conversation master" back.
"Besides what they just said, do you know the rest of the people?"
Caroline nodded: "Of course, this is a required course for every Vatican family member."
She was just about to speak but was stopped by William.
"Keep it down," the latter said.
"Oh~"
Caroline nodded, then pointed forward: "That team in white long robes are all members of the Saul family. They were the first to hold power in the Holy Land, but were later abandoned after betraying God."
"Despite this, 'Saul' is still one of the most noble families in the Holy Land."
"Today, they are already the most loyal supporters of the Pope, that is, the David family."
William was thoughtful: "So that's how it is."
"As for that team in black long robes..." Caroline's face showed some hesitation.
"They come from the Zadok clan, holding the Church's right to perform sacrifices. Every Great Holy Festival is hosted by them."
She patted William as she spoke.
"That nun at the very front is named Lorcy Zadok, the heir of this generation's Zadok family. She possesses four Brands and is the leader of this team."
William followed her direction and saw a beauty with a long face shape and elegant facial features.
The other party always wore a faint smile on her face, nodding gently to every Holy Clergy Member passing by.
Immediately, quite a few young men blushed and hurriedly used their robes to cover their faces.
"Judging from your tone... you seem to dislike her a bit?" William turned his head.
"Mmh... Anyway, I just don't like her." Caroline rarely didn't explain.
Seeing this, William didn't press her.
"In recent years, the relationship between the Zadok and Saul families doesn't seem to be very good. The people on both sides often argue publicly about this," Caroline continued.
"Haggai is there too!"
Her tone suddenly became excited.
William looked in the direction she pointed.
He saw a boy standing with a straight face beside the team of a major family.
The other party was an old acquaintance of William's. During the Anniversary incident in Philadelphia, it was this Father Haggai who taught William the reversal magic array.
"To be able to stand in that kind of position, his status shouldn't be ordinary, right," William said.
Caroline nodded: "The Isaac family is the bloodline of the Pioneer Spirit Abraham. They hold the duty of 'Prophet' within the Church. The prophecy regarding the Son of God back then was foretold by them."
"But... isn't Haggai unable to use Holy Power? Why did he come."
William said: "Doesn't he have deep research in theological knowledge? It just so happens that everyone won't be able to use Holy Power this time. The knowledge he possesses can exactly come in handy."
"So that's how it is," Caroline nodded.
"By the way, you also mentioned David earlier..." William rubbed his chin. "Is that the surname of the second generation in power recorded in Church history?"
"That's right!" Caroline said.
"The David family ended Saul's rebellion, re-establishing the faith of God in the Holy Land. To this day, they are still the supreme power holders in the Church."
William narrowed his eyes: "But you just said... Saul is David's supporter? Aren't those two families..."
"Mmh... I asked my mother about these things too, but she didn't tell me." Caroline propped her chin.
"But in the Vatican, everyone knows that Saul is David's most loyal servant."
"Most loyal servant..." William was noncommittal.
At the same time, Inner Hall.
Kalvis Saul walked up to Haggai and gently drew a cross: "Lord Haggai, shouldn't you be with Lord Shiloj."
"This participant assembly is extremely important. If a member of the David family doesn't make an appearance, it might invite criticism from others."
Haggai was stunned for a moment, thinking, What status do I have, what right do I have to control others?
But outwardly, he still hurriedly returned the salute: "In reply to Lord Kalvis, that lord has already entered the Land of the Holy War ahead of time."
"Oh?"
Kalvis raised an eyebrow slightly, and then pulled Haggai aside: "Did he find a clue to that item?"
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