Chapter 649: Order Church
But as Charles and Victor approached the oasis, both stopped their footsteps and looked up ahead.
At that moment, Victor's gaze was captivated by the sight of a young woman gracefully immersed in the shimmering water.
Even though they were more than 500 meters away from her, he saw her beautiful structure and paused in surprise.
The gentle ripples caressed her enchanting form, creating a mesmerizing dance of light and shadow. Her beauty was breathtaking, causing Victor to lose himself in admiration momentarily.
The young woman possessed a mane of lustrous black hair that cascaded down her back, its glossy strands glistening under the sunlight. Her eyes, a rare and striking shade of russet, held a mysterious allure as if they held secrets waiting to be unraveled. Framing her delicate features was a triangular face, lending an air of elegance and sophistication to her appearance.
Her porcelain-like skin, pale and ethereal, glowed softly against the backdrop of the tranquil lake. As Victor continued to observe, his attention was drawn to her round lips adorned with a subtle natural hue. They exuded a gentle and inviting charm, adding to her overall allure.
Estimating her age to be around 20, he marveled at the youthful radiance that enveloped her. Every aspect of her being seemed to be in perfect harmony, creating an alluring vision of beauty.
"Holy Maiden Zoe of the Order Church? Why is she here?" Victor finally woke up from the captivating sight and asked stiffly.
"Hmm, not only her but some people from Order Church are also here," Charles said as he released his wisdom power and let it spread through the whole surroundings.
'But if the Order Church members are here, why didn't I receive any news from Head Deacon Colt?' Only then did Charles notice Head Deacon Colt was nowhere nearby.
'They split up and asked one group to follow Victor?'
At that moment, Charles's attention was caught by four people standing about two hundred meters away. They were engrossed in chatting while looking at the faraway hill.
Among them, there was a man who stood out the most. He wore a beautiful golden robe with a long white beard flowing down his chest. Though he looked around 70 years old, he had a strong and tall body, about 190 cm tall. He held a silver staff that seemed to have divine power in his hand.
'He must be the Cardinal of the Order Church.' Charles thought and then shifted his gaze.
Soon, he noticed a young woman with shiny black hair in her twenties. At that moment, she wore a grand white armor-like dress and looked more like a Lady Knight. The dress had intricate silver designs and gold decorations, indicating her high status in the Order Church. It fitted her perfectly, offering both protection and flexibility in a fight.
Next to her was a man in his forties, wearing a black robe and standing about 150 cm tall. He seemed low-key and mysterious, with deep blue eyes, short brown hair, and two daggers hanging from his waist.
'He looks more like an assassin. Maybe a Head Deacon like Colt?'
But the fourth person in the group caught Charles's attention the most. Unlike the adults, this young boy appeared to be only 15 years old. Surprisingly, he had red hair and eyes with multiple colors. Despite being quite short, around 140 cm tall, there was an undeniable sense of power and danger emanating from him.
Suddenly, it seemed as though the young boy sensed Charles looking at him and immediately locked eyes with Charles. In a strange interaction, Charles somehow managed to scan the boy and learn a lot of information about him.
'A Rank-6 Dual Class Mystic? Is he 7,420 years old? What the heck? Isn't he an old man? But why does he look like a young boy?' Charles couldn't help but wonder how someone so powerful could be in the body of a young boy. The mystery surrounding the boy deepened even further.
"W-What should we do, Your Excellency?" Victor's face tensed up in alarm as he noticed that they had been stealthily followed. His mind raced with questions as confusion etched across his features. How had these individuals managed to reach the oasis before them?
Meanwhile, Charles attempted to ease the tension by waving his hand and stepping forward with reassuring words.
"Don't panic. As long as I'm here, no one will harm you," Charles paused for a moment and then added,
"Also, act like I'm an otherworldly human in front of them to keep my identity hidden."
Although Archbishop Victor didn't understand why Charles wanted to hide his identity, he didn't ask further and agreed.
At the same time, the Holy Maiden Zoe also became aware of the approaching figures and quickly made her way toward the nearby shore. She hurriedly dried herself off with a white towel and draped a blue robe over her body. With her wet hair tied up in the towel, she hurried to join the other members of the Order Church.
Not far away, the Cardinal, the Radiant Knight Ruby, the assassin robed Head Deacon, and the Holy Son of the Order Church had also taken notice of the newcomers and began walking towards them.
Charles and Victor, on the other hand, continued their journey around the oasis, eventually reaching the opposite side. However, when they were about 50 meters from the Order Church members, the Cardinal of the Order Church abruptly raised his crozier and issued a stern warning.
"Stop! We will attack if you take one more step forward."
"W-Wait! Your Eminence, please don't attack us. I'm Victor Hawthorne," Victor called out in panic, hoping to defuse the tense situation.
He quickly added, "We aren't here to cause any trouble. Our goal is..." But as he spoke, Victor suddenly realized how close he was to revealing crucial information and immediately halted his words, freezing in apprehension.
"I know who you are, Victor." Cardinal finally revealed a cunning smile and added.
"You should've known why we are here by now, right?"
Upon hearing those words, Victor's face turned ashen.
'They indeed followed me, huh? But how did they know this exact location? Could it be someone from the Hawthorne family who helped them?' At that moment, an image of a certain elder flashed before his eyes.
'He must have revealed some information about our last expenditure to the Order Church to achieve his revenge.'
After a short pause, Victor closed his eyes and then asked.
"What do you want?"
"Hohoho, what else do you think we want from a mere Dream Creator?" Cardinal touched his white beard while laughing and then added.
"Tell us all the information about the secret treasure you found here. Hmm? Who is this young lad?" Only then did Cardinal look at the young man and furrowed.
"Even your helper is only a Rank-5 Mystic? Tsk."
Due to Charles's [Amulet of Mind Blank] nature artifact, his current wisdom power was concealed to the power of a Rank-5 Mystic, making him look weaker than Archbishop Victor.
Upon hearing those words, Archbishop Victor slowly glanced at Charles and showed a bitter smile.
"I'm sorry for his rude remarks, your excellency." He said stiffly and hurriedly took out a greyish gem-embedded wooden staff from his space ring, ready for battle.
"Oh? It seems this little guy got some confidence, huh?" The smile on the Cardinal's face faded and was replaced with coldness.
Although he and his church members had lost their connection with their god, they still had so many aces up in their leaves.
So, he didn't even think of Archbishop Victor as a threat and decided to capture him.
With that thought in his mind, he raised his hand and was about to cast a Light Spell called 'Luminous Bind' but suddenly froze.
The red-haired young boy stepped forward and stopped Cardinal at that moment.
"What happened, Lord Jamie?" Cardinal asked stiffly.
"He isn't a normal young man. Even I'm unsure if I can take him on in a one-on-one battle." The young boy named Jamie whispered slowly and turned his attention towards Charles.
Then, he looked deeply at him and asked with a bow.
"May I know who you are, Mister? Why are you helping a member of the Hawthorne Family?"
On the other hand, Charles opened his mouth and spoke in English.
"That's none of your business."
Not only Cardinal but even Jamie and others were stunned inside.
"An otherworldly human being? But didn't Amber Church and others say they will only appear at Fifth Layer?" Holy Maiden said, showing a trace of curiosity.
"But he is truly talking in a language completely alien to Edhen World." This time, the Radiant Knight named Ruby spoke.
"Unlike the last time, there are many anomalies. So, it's not an impossible thing for an otherworldly human to appear in the First Layer itself." Jamie added.
A look of frustration appeared on Cardinal's face.
"What should we do?" After hearing Jamie's earlier words, he felt that it was impossible to force Archbishop Victor to give up on the information about the secret artifact and fell into deep thoughts.
Meanwhile, Jamie also pondered deeply and shifted his attention towards Victor.
"Why don't we move together and split the reward 50:50? I heard from Hawthorne Elder that this Graveyard of Stealers is a base of many Corpse Devourers. So, instead of acting alone, why not ally? If you fear our betrayal, we plan to perform a 'Divine Oath' before you." He proposed a bold agreement.
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