Chapter 582
"Where's the conference room?" Xia Er turned to Charles, who had caught up with her, and asked.
"I'll lead the way." Charles didn't say much, just quickened his pace and walked ahead of Xia Er to guide her.
He brought her to the door of the Vatican's conference room, knocked lightly, and then pushed the door open.
Inside, the conference hall was in chaos. Several cardinals and archbishops were gathered around a figure at the center. When they saw the door swing open, all eyes turned toward the entrance.
And there, Xia Er spotted the figure surrounded by the others—Aiergemar—still clad in her tattered armor, her eyes glowing with a dark green flame. It seemed she had already begun her "Artificial Divine Persona" project nine years ago.
"Charles, where have you been? What happened to Lord Qiangyin... and who is this?" A metallic buzzing emanated from Aiergemar's armor.
"This is Xia Er. I ran into her at the door... she said she wanted to see you, so I brought her along," Charles replied.
Xia Er?
The cardinals around Aiergemar exchanged glances, their expressions shifting. They had just been discussing the sudden disappearance of Qiangyin, speculating whether he was still alive, and now the very person he had called out just hours ago had arrived so quickly.
The flames in Aiergemar's eyes flickered slightly, and she said, "You all wait outside for a moment."
The cardinals discreetly exited the conference hall, and once the door closed, only Xia Er, Aiergemar, and Charles remained inside.
"Did you seek me out?" Aiergemar began with a formal tone.
She and Charles shared a similar path; they both sensed a terrifying aura emanating from Xia Er that set off their spiritual alarms. The image of Qiangyin's sudden demise was still fresh in Aiergemar's mind, so she naturally lowered her guard.
Now, Aiergemar felt a twinge of anxiety. A mysterious power had obliterated Qiangyin in such a dramatic fashion, and now it was seeking her out... It was hard to believe this visitor came with good intentions.
Surely, there was a need driving this encounter... The Church of the God of Order and her own secrets were numerous, but she had no idea what Xia Er truly wanted.
"I have a small request," Xia Er said, looking at Aiergemar with a smile. "I would like to borrow your church's relic library to look up some materials."
The relic library...
Research...?
Aiergemar paused for a moment. She had prepared herself for the possibility that Xia Er might know her greatest secret—the "Artificial Divine Persona" project—but she never expected that Xia Er merely wanted to visit the relic library...
It felt absurd, like someone had just obliterated a nation's shadowy regent in front of you and then asked if they could browse a few books in your study...
"Sure..." Aiergemar nodded slightly.
Yet, she still couldn't believe that this mysterious person had come for such a trivial matter. After a moment of thought, she asked, "Are you sure you only want to use the relic library?"
"Of course, just for about two hours. I'll be in and out," Xia Er replied, nodding. After a moment's thought, she glanced at the blank paper and pen on the conference table, walked over, and began to write.
Rustle, rustle—
Xia Er skillfully penned the potion formula for the "Knight" path, then pushed the written formula and the replication ritual toward Aiergemar, smiling as she said, "In exchange, I can provide you with the correct path and ritual for the 'Crown Guardian.'"
The correct path and... ritual for the "Crown Guardian"?
This time, not just Aiergemar, but even Charles was taken aback.
He suppressed his curiosity, standing still as he watched Aiergemar's reaction from across the table.
She was wavering...
The potion was real...?
"May I go now? To the relic library?" Xia Er seemed impatient, not wanting to wait for them to recover from their shock. She just wanted to verify what she had done in the Old Days.
"Y-yes... you can..." Aiergemar felt her thoughts swirling. She called over a cardinal to take Xia Er to the relic library, then sat back down, still in a daze. She was not only grappling with the implications of the path before her but also pondering Xia Er's intentions in sharing this information.
Xia Er followed the archbishop into the relic library. After receiving the key handed to her, she immediately began searching the shelves.
The relic library of the Church of the God of Order looked almost the same as it had nine years ago, with only a few ancient texts missing, likely borrowed out. But those were church texts and held little significance for Xia Er.
She searched her memory for the contents of these books and soon found herself in front of the innermost shelf, pulling out a book to flip through.
Like the archives of the Goddess Church, most of the books in the relic library were religious in nature, with very few historical records.
However, Xia Er noticed that this row of shelves had a few new books...
Instead of immediately examining those new additions, she focused on the original texts to see if history had been altered.
The Era of Holy Wars... different battles... the end of the Holy Wars... the division of religious power...
All these historical accounts were largely unchanged, identical to what Xia Er had read before.
There was undoubtedly a massive event wedged between the known Era of Chaos and the Era of Holy Wars, an event that had obliterated much of the information from the Era of Chaos, as if it had been filtered through this event.
Had her breaking through the Abyss's sky had no impact on the historical progression of the Era of Holy Wars...? Was this event directly filtering out the consequences of that event?
After quickly flipping through the previously read books, Xia Er began to examine the new additions. These books offered her some small surprises.
They were fragments of historical records?
It was clear that these books were incomplete, but they meticulously documented some of the good deeds performed by the Church of the God of Order during the Era of Holy Wars... This seemed like information that had been consciously selected.
Xia Er could tell this wasn't a religious narrative; it felt more like the records of an observer, merely appropriated by the Church of the God of Order as historical evidence for their propaganda.
This was something new...
Xia Er recalled what she had instructed Hei Ni to do before leaving the village in the Old Days...
"Collect all the literature you can find, document everything you can record, witness the history you can witness..."
In the Era of Holy Wars, some previously unrecorded history had been documented.
Her influence from the Old Days had not been entirely filtered out by the "event." Hei Ni's actions had continued to resonate even after the Old Days?
But why? Why had the altar disappeared? And why had these fragments reappeared in the Church of the God of Order? Moreover, these historical records bore no signatures?
Xia Er stacked the new books together, cradling them as she exited the relic library, quickly heading back toward the conference hall. Archbishop Henry hurried to keep pace with her.
As the cardinals in the corridor saw Xia Er, they quickly made way. She pushed through the crowd and opened the door to the conference hall, where Aiergemar and Charles stood together, their expressions somber.
Xia Er's arrival drew their attention, both filled with questions they wanted to ask her.
But Xia Er had no intention of clarifying their doubts. She walked over to Aiergemar, placing the few fragments on the table, and asked, "Where can I find the original texts of these historical records?"
"The original texts..." Aiergemar seemed a bit distracted. She forced herself to focus, picking up the fragments Xia Er had placed on the table. After flipping through them casually, she said, "These are the originals, at least as they were when I joined the Church of the God of Order."
Were these historical records already "edited" during the Era of Holy Wars?
"Do you know who the author of these records is?" Xia Er pressed.
"I don't know... perhaps some cleric from the Era of Holy Wars..."
Aiergemar shook her head. Now her attention had shifted from the "Knight" path to the historical records before her. After examining the cover again, she shook her head once more. "I'm sorry, my lady, but I don't know who the authors of these histories are."
Listening to Aiergemar's words, Xia Er fell into deep thought.
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