Chapter 020: Before the End

It took some time before a “shushing” sound was heard, and several people emerged from the jungle. The one in the lead said calmly, “Du Fan… what are you doing here?”
Du Fan quickly turned to look, his heart pounding. He quickly bowed and said, “Lord Anthony.”
The people who came out of the jungle were Anthony from the Holy Church and several cardinals. Seeing the expression on Du Fan’s face, Anthony knew he had questions, but he simply waved his hand and said, “There’s a fight going on near the capital. It’s only natural for me to come and take a look. Right, Du Fan?”
Du Fan was slightly stunned but still nodded, saying, “That’s obvious… though…”
Before Du Fan could finish, Anthony smiled again and said, “Du Fan, if I’m not mistaken, the one who was fighting Ampere just now was you, right?”
Du Fan’s scalp tingled. He knew he couldn’t hide it anymore and could only nod, saying, “Yes… but halfway through, it seems he sensed something, and that old monster ran away on his own.”
“An old monster? What a nice name!” Anthony exhaled in admiration. He gave Du Fan another deep look before saying, “Truly, heroes emerge from youth. You were able to stay unharmed against that forbidden magic master. If I hadn’t watched you grow up, I wouldn’t believe it—just half a year ago, you were ordinary, yet now you possess such strength!”
Du Fan’s scalp continued to tingle, but he quickly said, “This is still thanks to the effect of the holy water bestowed upon me by Lord Anthony.”
Hearing this, Anthony’s face showed a satisfied smile.
The remaining cardinals, upon hearing the word “holy water,” couldn’t help but glance at Du Fan, their eyes filled with surprise and a hint of jealousy.
Anthony seemed to notice their expressions as well. He smiled lightly again and said, “Well, let’s go outside together… There’s still a lot of interesting stuff happening tonight!”
With that, Anthony waved his hand and floated in the direction of Prince Fischer and Francis.
Du Fan hurried after him. In no time, Francis and Prince Fischer appeared in sight. Suddenly, Anthony gave a soft shout and began to chant softly, “The Lord says: What I give will be taken away, and what I gain will be lost…”

As he chanted, several cardinals who had been following Anthony suddenly sped up. Soon, they reached Francis’s head and then slowly descended from the sky, seemingly surrounding him. Next, each of them drew a pure white magic wand, with a giant magic crystal at one end, emitting a holy glow. Francis and Prince Fischer seemed to have known they would appear all along. Prince Fischer gently waved his hand, and the Holy Flame Warriors in front of him slowly disappeared, leaving only a protective barrier around him. After that, he smiled slightly at the cardinals and said, “So it’s you all. It’s been a long time.” Meanwhile, Du Fan and Anthony also descended from the air and stood beside Prince Fischer. Prince Fischer first glanced at Anthony and said, “Lord Anthony… thank you for your rescue… If you hadn’t appeared tonight, I likely wouldn’t have survived.” He then looked at Du Fan, a sincere smile appearing on his face, and said loudly, “Lord Du Fan, I knew it—how could a noble priest like you be killed by a heretic? I had guessed that heretic wouldn’t be your match.” Du Fan smiled slightly and said, “It was just luck.” Francis, hearing this, couldn’t help but glance at Du Fan. After a moment, he said indifferently, “It’s good that you came out unharmed from Ampere’s grasp! It seems I underestimated you before.” Du Fan glanced at the Silver Sheath Sword Saint and replied calmly, “Lord Francis, you flatter me.” Francis remained cold-faced. He glanced at Du Fan, then at Prince Fischer, before saying gravely, “Prince Fischer, it seems we can only meet again in the future… For now, I, Francis, will take my leave.” With that, the Silver Sheath Sword Saint slowly sheathed the legendary artifact of the continent and stepped back a few times, ready to leave. But one of the cardinals surrounding him snorted and said, “Francis, though you’re one of the continent’s top fighters, since you dared to attack my pope’s protégé, you’re a heretic… Do you really think you can leave like this today?”

“Heretic?” Francis sneered. He glanced back at Anthony, then couldn’t help but chuckle and say, “Lord Anthony, I suppose since your attempt to recruit me failed, I’ve already been considered a heretic in your Holy Church, right?”
Upon hearing this, Anthony smiled faintly and said in a sacred tone, “God says that all who desecrate Him are heretics… From that perspective, Lord Francis, you indeed are one of them as well.”
Francis sneered, “So what do you want, Lord Anthony? To judge me in God’s name?”
Anthony smiled and said, “No… No one can represent God, not even I, Lord Francis… I also don’t want to go against you. After all, you are already a holy warrior. Going against you brings no benefit to my Holy Church at all. So, you may leave today, but I need you to give me a guarantee!”
“What guarantee?”
“It’s simple,” Anthony continued smiling. “Just promise that you’ll never lay a hand on Lord Fischer again.”
Francis snorted. Suddenly, he grasped the blood-red rose in his right hand. A red light flashed, and the combat energy around him flared up again. Staring at Anthony, he said slowly, “Lord Anthony, then go ahead and attack. You might still have a chance to keep me here today, but in the future, you’ll never have such a chance again…”
The cardinals surrounding him instinctively stepped back, but they had already raised their wands high.
Anthony’s gaze flickered. He stared at Francis and said solemnly, “Francis, don’t think that just because you’re a holy warrior, you can look down on my Holy Church. We don’t want to go against you, but seeing a holy-level powerhouse appear in our human world, we can’t bring ourselves to eliminate you. But don’t think for a moment that we’re afraid of you… You should know that even without anyone else, I, Anthony, might still be able to keep you here!”
As soon as the last word left his mouth, a flash of holy light appeared on Anthony’s body. A crack suddenly appeared at his feet and rapidly spread in the direction of Francis.
Francis snorted. The blood-red rose in his hand paused, then plunged into the ground. With a muffled sound, the spreading crack stopped right in front of him.

Francis’s right hand trembled, and blood gushed from his palm, but he still slowly retracted the Blood Rose. A flash of Holy Combat Energy appeared on his hand, and the wound soon left only a faint white mark. Looking at the white mark on his hand, Francis frowned before saying after a moment, “Is this the divine art of the Holy Church? Truly impressive.” Anthony remained expressionless upon hearing Francis’s words and continued, “Then, Lord Francis, I’ll give you one more chance… Will you agree to my conditions?” Francis sighed and said, “If I had a choice, I, Francis, wouldn’t want to go against the Holy Church… But I owe great thanks to the Crown Prince in the past. Since he wants me to kill Prince Fischer, I have no choice but to do so. To be honest, I have some acquaintance with Prince Fischer as well. If possible, I wouldn’t want to harm him either. But my life belongs to the Crown Prince… I no longer have any choice… As for you, Lord Anthony, this matter is a dispute over imperial power. It’s probably not wise for your Holy Church to intervene rashly!” Before Anthony could respond, a cardinal snorted and said, “Dareful! Prince Fischer is the pope’s godson and the candidate for the next pope… You dare speak such things while wanting to harm the heir to my holy church’s throne? That’s truly blasphemy!” Hearing the words “heir to the pope,” Du Fan couldn’t help but feel a stir in his heart. He glanced at Prince Fischer, who stood beside him with a smile, and couldn’t help but sneer inwardly. Of course, he wouldn’t show such an expression. He simply gave Prince Fischer a glance and said calmly, “So you’re the heir to the pope. I apologize for any offenses I may have committed before.” Prince Fischer smiled warmly at Du Fan and said, “Du Fan, what are you talking about? The fact that you stayed with me today proves you’re someone worth befriending. There’s no need for apologies. But it seems today’s matter won’t end well. Remember, just watch and don’t speak… Tonight’s show will still be quite interesting!” Book 20: Deceit and Stratagem