Chapter 20: The Deal

Komer seemed to hear something from the archmage of the Periclean Church. Did this guy still have anything to discuss with him? He even knew everything about the Great Bear, which meant all of Komer’s secrets were in this man’s hands. What did he want?
Seeing Komer’s suspicious gaze fixed on him, Denebi’s joy didn’t wane at all. It seemed this guy hadn’t realized the value of what that man from the Osmanthus Gate carried—or perhaps he didn’t even know what those things were. That was great; it could greatly reduce risks.
“Lord Komer, I have a proposal. You must see that the situation ahead isn’t favorable for you. I know you still have strength left, but even so, the outcome is likely unacceptable to you. The Ram Knights and the Roc Knights can cause huge losses, and we have more mage power than your own. Now that your Starry Sky Array has been suppressed, it’s time for our mages to counterattack. The Roc Knights’ attacks won’t reverse your disadvantage. How about you try again? I guarantee half of your Roc Knights won’t be able to fly anymore.”
Denebi could tell Komer was stubborn, and his words carried a strong threatening tone.
“Mr. Denebi, I don’t care who you are. I don’t want to waste time. If you really have something to say, I’ll give you a chance. But if you’re trying to buy time, I’m sorry to tell you—you won’t succeed.” Komer didn’t want to overthink it. If he couldn’t get rid of this guy before Trajan dealt with the Great Bear, this war might indeed become unpredictable. The enemy knights were far too strong, and he had underestimated them, failing to expect the Ram Knights and Roc Knights to unite to help the Gallics. It seemed he had underestimated the Light Church’s hostility toward him.

“Very good. I think our Church of Pericles and Lord Komer don’t have any deep-seated grudges. The attitudes of the tribunal and St. Basil’s Church cannot represent those of our Church of Pericles. We understand and support Lord Komer’s handling of matters in Homer and Poznan. People’s religious beliefs should be guided rather than forced. I sincerely hope that Lord Komer can grant as much convenience as possible to our Church of Light under this principle.” Denby also felt somewhat awkward; he didn’t know how to express his intentions. Suddenly changing his attitude in the midst of a fierce battle was difficult to justify, so he could only use these irrelevant words to bridge the gap.

Komer was equally surprised. This guy actually came to discuss religious policies with him at this moment. Did he really want to waste time? Didn’t he think that was rather childish? With his magical power at its peak, Komer didn’t want to waste any more time with him. A dark glow flashed from his black crystal staff.

“Mr. Denby, what do you mean? If you have nothing to say, I think we should have a real fight!”

Realizing the other party was impatient, Denby regretted his lack of eloquence. “Lord Komer, please wait. I think I can first express my goodwill.”

Under Komer’s puzzled gaze, Denby quickly sent a magical message. Kent, who received it, was shocked and had to temporarily leave the battlefield. Although he didn’t understand why Denby wanted him to withdraw at this moment, Denby was the leader appointed by Archbishop Frenst for this expedition, so he had to obey his orders.

Kent’s departure relieved the forces of Homer on the battlefield. With him gone, the three men who had been holding him off could immediately block the advancing knights of the Church of Light.

“Lord Komer, I think we have some time to talk now, don’t we?” Denby watched Komer’s expression. It was only natural for Komer to be suspicious. He didn’t want to elaborate further—there were things even Kent shouldn’t know. “Lord Komer, this disciple of the Osmanthus Gate is a skilled thief. He stole important items from our Church of Pericles. I believe those items are now in your hands. If you can return them to us, our Church of Pericles will be extremely grateful.”

Komer felt a stir in his heart. The bear indeed carried quite a few scattered items, but he hadn’t paid attention when searching it earlier; they were all still in the cosmic bag. Since then, he had focused entirely on how to refine the bear itself and hadn’t paid much attention to the items left behind. He never expected them to be important items for the Church of Light. He just didn’t know what those items were so crucial that Denby was in such a hurry to bring them up, even at the cost of Kent leaving the battlefield. Komer wished he could take them out right away to examine them carefully, but the current situation simply wasn’t appropriate.

“Mr. Denby, yes, those items are in my possession. I have no interest in the affairs of the Church of Light. It wouldn’t be a problem to hand them over to the Church of Pericles. However, I really hope to see a more concrete manifestation of your goodwill now.”

Seeing Komer’s gaze directed toward Trajan, Denby shook his head with a bitter smile. “Lord Komer, you should be aware that I have no authority to interfere with the actions of St. Basil’s Church or the Inquisition. Please understand that.”

“What about the Rema knights? And the mages of the Church of Pericles?” Komer demanded sharply.

Denby hesitated for a moment before saying, “Lord Komer, after all, we all belong to the Church of Light. Doing so would undoubtedly mean an open split. I can only try to quietly keep the Rema knights away from the battlefield. Please cooperate with us on that. But before that, shouldn’t you also show some goodwill?”

It was probably the first time in Denby’s life that he had spoken to someone outside his circle in such a gentle tone. The outcome of this war wouldn’t have much impact on the Church of Pericles. Nicosia had never been within their sphere of influence. If it weren’t for his suspicions about Komer, Archbishop Frenst wouldn’t have sent such a large force to Plovdiv.

“Heh, it seems Mr. Denby is also a practical person. Very well.” Komer nodded. In his memory, aside from a scroll, there seemed to be only one ring that appeared to have some value.

A grayish-blue ring appeared in Komer’s palm. “Mr. Denby, do you remember this ring?”

“Oh, of course. I certainly remember it—it’s an important relic of our Church of Pericles.” Denby’s heart seemed to leap out of his chest as he tried hard to suppress his excitement. As expected, all the loot from the thief of the osmanthus door had fallen into his hands. If they hadn’t kept it secret from Kent to avoid more people knowing, none of these troubles would have arisen. Now, these items were finally returning to the Church of Pericles.

“Very well. I’ll keep my promise. As for the rest, it depends on how well you, the Church of Pericles, perform,” Cohmer said, tossing the ring to him. At this moment, he couldn’t afford to be the slightest bit careless. The people from the Church of Pericles weren’t trustworthy either. Now that they knew these items were in his possession, it was possible they might think it would be advantageous to attack him once they believed they had won. Such a scenario wasn’t impossible—better not fall for that trap.

“Lord Cohmer, where’s that scroll?” Denby hadn’t seen clearly how the soul ring appeared in Cohmer’s hand, nor had he noticed any action from Cohmer before the ring was in his own hands. Perhaps Cohmer had always carried it with him? But it seemed unlikely that he could carry a scroll around.

“Hehe, Mr. Denby, you’re really impatient. I’ve placed the scroll in a very safe place among the enemies. I didn’t expect the Church of Pericles to be so interested in it. Otherwise, I would definitely have carried it with me. I think we’ll have plenty of time to complete this exchange later, right?” Cohmer said with a smirk. “For now, please keep your promise, Denby.”

Nodding reluctantly, Denby was already very satisfied with what he had gained. The return of the soul ring far exceeded his expectations. That guy had no idea how important the soul ring was. Of course, for a dark practitioner, the Soul Ring of Light might be meaningless, but for the Church of Pericles and Lord Frenst, it was extremely important.

Cohmer watched coldly the argument between Denby and Kent.

The argument between the two also caused Tullian concern. The two most important supporters of the Church of Pericles were ignoring such an urgent situation and arguing instead. Tullian couldn’t imagine it—was Denby planning to back out at this critical moment? A sense of foreboding slowly arose in Tullian’s heart.

Furious, Kent firmly rejected Denby’s unreasonable demands. He wondered if Mr. Denby had gone mad—how could he possibly ask the Ram Knights to quietly withdraw from the battlefield? It was unbelievable that such words could come from Archmage Denby. Did he not understand what this meant? It was betrayal! A betrayal of the entire Light Church. Although Kent didn’t have much fondness for St. Vasili’s Church or the Sky Falcon Knights, and he despised the Inquisition even more, they were all members of the Light Church. Faced with the provocations of the dark forces, they should stand together. Denby’s demands were undoubtedly a rejection of his own beliefs.