Throne of Magical Arcana - Chapter 878

Chapter 878: The Change of the Nobles’ Attitude

Rentato’s night was no different from any other cities’. Except for the cathedrals and the district of nobles that were illuminated by the everlasting light, the other places only had the light of the moon or the stars. Therefore, at such a pitch-dark night, Rentato was particularly cold and gloomy. The only thing that could be seen was the occasional lanterns.

“Blue Grace” Sharp stood next to the window in his bedroom and looked at the darkness outside attentively, as if the darkness that had nothing worth appreciating was the greatest significance of his life.

He raised his right hand and touched the lump on his nose. His vigorous blue eyes carried slight uneasiness. Other people might not know that Alfonsol, a giant of the Inquisition, had already left to hunt the sorcerers of the Tower of Destroyers. However, as the deputy captain of the Sword of Truth’s Knights and one of the king’s most trusted subordinates, he had enough sources for him to learn the fact. Therefore, he was waiting for an outcome.

Dum, dum, dum.

Somebody rushed close fast, with the thudding noises of iron boots and the clinking noises of his armor.

“Captain…” The knight who came to deliver the message breathed heavily. It took him only one minute to reach Lord Sharp’s villa. “The Heart of Time is back, heavily wounded. Alfonsol and all the clerics and night watchers he brought were killed!”

“The Heart of Time?” Unusually, Sharp failed to control his face. He was puzzled why Kritonia was involved in all this.

“The message is from the Radiance Church, but the details are unknown.” The knight said in a hurry, “Captain, Kritonia accuses you of conspiring with the sorcerers to kill Alfonsol. He said that he came late and could only save his own life. He apparently wants you dead!”

The royal family had bribed a lot of bishops of the Holm parish, who were not strong or prominent but could deliver intelligence at the critical moments.

“Alfonsol saw through it. Or maybe somebody sold the operation plan to Kritonia. However, if he was involved, why is Alfonsol still dead, and why was he heavily wounded…” Sharp was in such confusion that he forgot he was in danger himself. He could not figure out the reason at all.

The knight suddenly fell on his knees; his armor bashing into the floor heavily. He cried, “Captain, you should run! The Church won’t let go of you! They need a scapegoat for their failure! They will set you on fire! As long as you hide until His Majesty is back, you will be innocent again!”

After a brief silence, Sharp held back his confusion and worries and said to his subordinate with his usual leadership, “If I run, it will mean that I admit my crimes. I don’t believe that the Church will sentence a duke to death with no evidence except for the jibber-jabber of the sorcerers, which would chill and terrify all the nobles.”

It was one of the scenarios he had in mind in case the operation failed and a sorcerer confessed after being captured. He had been prepared for that and believed nothing would happen to him under the king’s protection. The only thing that bothered him was that the accusation was from Kritonia, another duke and a legendary knight. It was much more powerful than he imagined!

Clang!

The window quivered, and a cluster of fire penetrated through, turning into a brawny, tough-looking man in short hair.

“Captain, run now! Some red robe proposed to capture you!” He was “Demon Igniter” Gourcuff.

Sharp clenched his right fist, but he was still calm. “Don’t worry. It’s just regular capture and interrogation. They have no evidence. I’ll be fine. If I run now, I will never be able to explain myself.”

“My lord, you cannot trust the Church. In the past, they judged many nobles that they were only suspicious of and sentenced them to death!” While Gourcuff admired the deputy captain for being so calm and steady in such a dangerous moment, he was still quite anxious because Francois might be on his way!

Sharp shook his head and grabbed the hilt of his longsword. “They are all nobles below the rank of an earl, and I am a duke accoladed by His Majesty in person.”

“My lord…” Gourcuff almost decided to drag the deputy captain to flee, but Sharp’s determined attitude made him hesitate. “Why don’t you hide in the Nekso Palace for now? I don’t think the Church dares to break in. You can wait until His Majesty returns.”

“About that…” Sharp was tempted.

At this moment, a bolt of lightning struck in the sky, and a young man who had few strands of hair, which were all standing, appeared in his bedroom. He was surrounded by silver electric arcs, and his pupils and his skin were in the unusual silver colors. “My lord, the Radiance Church has decided not to capture you. Instead, a red robe is sent to appease you.”

He was another one of Sharp’s deputies, “Argent Punishment” Cesc.

“What?” It was Gourcuff and the knight who came earliest who exclaimed in shock.

“Did something happen?” Sharp, as their leader, was equally astonished, but he still pretended to be cool on the surface.

Cesc shrugged. “I don’t know. We haven’t received any updates yet. Maybe they just decided to respect the nobles…”

His words were full of intense sarcasm.

Very soon, a red robe indeed came and forwarded Francois’ comfort to Sharp. He was told that the Liege of Death set up a trap, heavily wounding Kritonia and killing the clerics including Alfonsol, and that the evil sorcerer intentionally disseminated that the two of them were in cooperation. It was an attempt to sabotage the relationship between the Church and the nobles, but the Graceful Angel was a saint favored by the Lord. Smart and righteous, he was not affected by the rumors at all. Sharp was asked to trust the justice of the Lord.

After seeing the red robe off with a smile, Sharp went into the bedroom, his face graver than ever. He said to his subordinates, “Something else must’ve happened! Find out what it is!”

He had basically understood that the operation was the sorcerers’ trap and that their target was not Alfonsol at all but the Heart of Time. Even the Liege of Death, a top legend in the past, was involved. It was dozens of times more serious than he anticipated! So, he couldn’t have passed it so easily without the other factors. There must have been something great that was much more important than what happened here last night.

After the three subordinates left, Sharp paced back and forth, not even in the mood to appreciate the dark night anymore. His vague anxiety spread out beyond his control.

The sky suddenly flashed with a flash of lightning, and Cesc appeared in the bedroom.

Holding back his agitation, Sharp tried to maintain his image as a leader. “What have you got?”

“A great battle took place in Tria. His Holiness used God’s Arrival twice in a row. ‘Silver Moon’ Alterna was beaten back and heavily wounded, and Abel was killed…” Cesc said in shock.

“What?” Sharp exclaimed aloud, unable to retain his image. The Silver Moon took action and got defeated?

Having no time to repeat himself, Cesc went on, “However, the pope returned to Lance due to poor conditions. Legendary sorcerers, vampire princes, and primordial dragons flew past Tria and directly launched an attack at Lance. The battle was quite intense.”

It was more detailed than what Francois said because new intelligence had come from Lance.

“That explains a lot…” Sharp said in a low voice. He then comforted Cesc who was in a panic. “Unless a demigod takes action, it is not so easy to break into Lance. After the Excellencies in Tria return, the situation will be steady again, except that it remains to be seen how badly hurt His Holiness is…”

Very soon, Gourcuff also returned. “Captain, The Angel King arrived in the Holy City and resisted the attacks of Danisos, Dracula, the elven queen, the Sun King, and the other legendary experts with… with God’s Guard.”

This “Sun King” was only a level-three legendary expert and wasn’t Thanos.

“Captain, His Majesty, Saint Griffith, Saint Ivan, the Shield of Truth, Rudolf and other people have returned from Tria and beat the sorcerers’ attack.” The first knight came last with the latest news.

“His Holiness did not take action. It seems that he is really in bad condition…” Sharp analyzed in a low voice. Suddenly, he burst into laughter. “No wonder they let go of me so easily. At this moment, this side of the strait is in desperate need of the aid of nobles, and so is the war in the west!”

“Yes, congratulations, captain,” the first knight said in delight.

In a great mood, Sharp looked at his trusted subordinates and said, “Not having to be judged is not the happiest thing for me. Do you know what I’m happiest about?”

“The dilemma in the war of the west?” Gourcuff replied in uncertainty.

“The Silver Moon is heavily wounded?” The first knight still admired the Church, the pope, and God’s Arrival.

After a brief silence, Cesc said, “Captain, are you happy because the two incidents demonstrated the power of nobles that even the grand cardinals have to be wary of and treat carefully?”

“Yes.” Sharp turned back and looked out of the window. Too many secrets were hidden in the darkness. “It is not until today that I know how strong we are. Even though I am really to blame for Alfonsol’s death, there is nothing they can do about me.”

Now that their deputy captain had openly stated his attitude and confessed his crime, the three knights looked at each other and all fell on one of their knees. “Nobles are supreme!”

…

“Abel and Dracula set up a trap and attacked the pope. Then, she used herself as the bait to consume the pope’s ‘God’s Arrival’. In the end, she asked Abel and Dracula to kill the pope who had been weakened. It was a sound plan. However, the Silver Moon’s heart is much softer than I thought. Was she not scared that she would be erased by ‘God’s Arrival’? Or maybe, was she so confident about the demigods’ immortality? Also, why was she so certain that the pope could not perform God’s Arrival twice in a row?” After hearing the simple but effective plan from the Silver-Eyed Count, the Liege of Death asked tentatively with mixed feelings.

The gorgeous vampire known as the Silver-Eyed Count replied with a smile, “Because she knows a thing or two about the power and the sequela of God’s Arrival. The Primordial Ancestor observed the battle of Antiffler the whole time even though she was not involved, and she spent a lot of time there afterward. It’s a pity that she still misjudged a bit.”