Rise of Myriad Magic Emperor

Chapter 164: Ancient Returns

[Radiant Sun God Church, Prayer Room Gates]

A group of Neutral Archbishops, followed by Fardin and Martin, entered the open hall in front of the statue of the Radiant Sun God and looked at the chaotic crowd that was constantly shouting and fighting with each other.

The Holy knights tried to prevent the crowd from breaking into the prayer room, while they were constantly trying to push through.

Looking around, they saw a man who had been beaten so badly that his whole body was covered with brushes and torn clothes.

Another person was bleeding heavily from his nose with broken teeth while one was lying on the floor in a pool of blood.

Another person was bleeding heavily from his nose with broken teeth, nearby another one was lying on the floor in a pool of blood.

These were just a few of the cases.

Upon seeing the condition of the people, the Archbishop was astonished. This was the first time they had witnessed such a brutal scenario within the perimeter of the Church of the Radiant Sun God.

The area didn't look like a place for worship; instead, it became a fighting ring with no rules, without any real sense of consciousness and ethics.

The Archbishop of the neutral group could no longer tolerate this and stepped forward to prevent the people from fighting each other.

Stop, stop this madness now! What are you all doing? It is not a place for such behavior, these actions are unacceptable inside the Church" shouted the Archbishop at the peak of his voice.

Hearing the powerful shout, people stopped for a moment and looked towards the Archbishop.

They looked at him with anger and displeased expression but nobody dared to speak up.

Everyone knows that the Archbishop is on a completely different level than the knights and nuns they have opposed until now.

Out of blue, a stone was thrown at the Archbishop, he reacted quickly, catching the stone before it hit him.

"Archbishop Julian, if you have so much power to shout, why don't you use that power to cure more patients?" said a young man with designer clothes.

Archbishop Julian's eyes became sharp at the sight of the youth.

He knows very well about this man. The only disciple of Conon Dionysius, one of the famous physicians, who was forced to leave the capital three years ago due to the handy work of Archbishop Garfield.

Turning his head, he saw many other medics and doctors hiding in the crowd with local merchants and artists. All of these guys have suffered from the actions of Archbishop Garfield, or indirectly suffered losses due to the actions of the Church, at some point of time.

Other archbishops noticed this as well. They were finally able to find the reason why the planned action turned into a real riot.

'They are the culprits, they provoke ordinary citizens and force them to fight with believers for their selfish interests.

Hearing the cry of the young man, others also began to shout.

"Yes! What have you been doing since this morning? I heard that you have increased the cost of your treatment for no reason. Why did you do this?"

"Why argue with them? They are just money-hungry people. Even after they get such a large donation every year from us believers. We still have to pay for the treatment" 

"Yes, they forced all the doctors to leave the capital. If not for that, why would ordinary people come to the church just for minor treatment?"

More and more people started to speak up. The expression on the face of the Archbishops became ugly. They couldn't decide how to handle the situation. Should they tell them that they are all still exhausted after using almost all of their magical power? The easiest way to suppress them was to use magical pressure. But their current mental strength was exhausted and with still recovering magical power they can't use it. Every magic-user knows that magical pressure is created by a combination of concentrated magical power that they possess with the addition of their mental strength.

Moreover, using the power of magical pressure on ordinary citizens will be against their principles as well as the ideology of the Radiant Sun God religion. Later, they will have to explain to Emperor Joseph personally why they did so.

They are currently at a crossroad that has no valid path. The only thing they can do at the moment is to explain to them the concept of using magic spells. But explaining the world of magic-users in the current situation to an angry crowd of ordinary citizens is simply absurd, not to mention how many people will understand it.

Archbishop Fardin and Martin were also feeling bitter; they never expected the situation to take such a turn.

"If only Emperor Josif completed dealing with Archbishop Garfield and his group and helped us, then we might find a way to calm this angry crowd."

Just then, the crowd of people was finally able to break the blockage of the holy knights by taking advantage of the confusion created by the appearance of the Archbishops and pushed the doors of the prayer room open.

Upon entering the room, they were stunned by the scene before their eyes. A group of hundred men wearing white long sleeve attire gowns was kneeling in front of the statue, their faces covered with hoods.

The sudden arrival of an angry crowd, caused a hundred men to turn around and look at them with displeasure.

The crowd felt a suffocating pressure crushing down on their bodies, one by one they started to lose consciousness.

Even Archbishops standing outside the prayer room were stunned by the appearance of an unknown group inside the room. Causing them to look at each other in confusion.

After the entire crowd of people fainted. The attention of a hundred men was drawn towards the Archbishops.

One of the white-clothed men stood up, turned around, and walked towards the Archbishops, pulling down his hood.

Under the hood was an old man with sharp eyebrows and a Roman nose, with a slightly wrinkled face and a mole under his right eye, he looked at the seven archbishops with a broad smile.

"How have you been children?"

Seeing the familiar face and hearing the familiar voice, the Archbishops were dumbfounded and didn't believe their eyes. Because the person standing before them should have died two centuries ago. The former pope of Radiant Sun God Church, Nicholas Benedict.

"Fardin, Martin, Julian, Lucius, Adrian, Matthew, Achillas. You are not going to welcome this old man, or are you guys shocked that I am still alive?"

Hearing that, everyone nodded in unison.

Everyone knew that Pope Nicholas was already 856years old when he was declared dead two centuries ago. At that time, seven of them were just new appointment bishops and had met him for the first time. But, ten years later after their appointment, he died due to his declining health. Following that, at an early age of 16, Saintess Maya Vermilion took the oath as the next pope of Radiant Sun God religion. 

One can say that both Josif and Nicholas were of the same generation and he was also the former second strongest light magic user in the continent. But seeing the dead person before their own eyes alive and talking with them, how could they not be surprised?

"Your Holiness, is that really you? How come you are still alive? Did you not die two hundred years ago? If you were alive, why did you pretend to be dead?" asked Fardin with some hesitation.

He was a hundred percent sure that the person standing before him is the former pope. For Fardin, Nicholas was his idol and the person he admires as much as Saintess Maya. Being an orphan, he was raised by the church, and his greatest inspiration was to become an Archbishop to help others.

It was the teaching of Pope Nicholas to serve others with kindness in heart and devotion in every action, which had shaped the person he is today.

Listening to Fardin's questions, Nicholas gently smiled.

"Too many questions, but don't worry you will get answers to all of them. You just have to wait for some moments. Today a very important event is going to happen. Our lord and savior, is finally going to awake from his deep slumber of millions of years" said Nicholas as he patted Fardin's head and turned around to enter the prayer room.

The rest of the men in the room didn't react much, turned around, and knelt in front of the statue. Nicholas also joined them.

Fardin and his fellow Archbishops also entered the room with a confused expression and stood at a corner without disturbing the men's kneeling before the statue.

With a dumbfounded look on their faces, Fardin and his group noticed that the atmosphere in the room began to change; as they started to feel indescribable comfort and care.

The statue of the Radiant Sun God glowed with a dull white light, cracks began to appear on the statue's forehead, which continued to spread across the surface of the statue.

The entire room was flooded with bright sacred light emanating from it. In front of Fardin and his group; Plants began to grow out of nowhere on the walls of the entire room, and gradually the whole room turned into a garden full of beautiful flowers that spread their sweet smell in the air.

The eyes of Archbishops widened.

The statue of Radiant Sun God was no longer there and instead, a man with twelve golden wings growing out of his back with a bright smile was standing before their eyes.