Pirate Kingship.

Chapter 678 Captains Duel! Opening Move: Excommunication!
The time goes back to the daytime of October 10th.

Saint Isabella the Unsullied, who was anxiously awaiting the outcome of the national war, was suddenly urgently summoned by Pope Francis IV and had to be teleported to St. Peter's Basilica via her own Vientiane Palace.

When she arrived here, the Pope said nothing, but summoned all the saints, cardinals and archbishops to pray silently for the Invincible Armada in the auditorium.

Isabella could only suppress her doubts temporarily. With a big belly that showed she was about to give birth, she knelt in front of the huge silver cross with other church leaders.

Time flies until the last twilight of the evening fades away.

Isabella was so immersed in devout prayer that she didn't notice the passage of time. Suddenly, she felt someone patting her shoulder. When she looked up, she saw the Pope standing next to her.

His voice was a little low:

"Son, I have something important to tell you."

He waved his hand, signaling Isabella, whose face changed, to follow him.

The two walked one after the other to a private prayer room next to it.

Just as the door closed, Isabella heard the Pope, who had unknowingly fallen behind her, tell her a bombshell:
"Your husband, Ferdinand II, was killed in battle, and the Armada was defeated."

"What???"

After the Queen of the Pyrenees Empire screamed, her mind went blank and her body froze in place.

Before she could ask for details, she saw a ray of black light shoot out from the Pope's fingertips and suddenly hit her.

"you"

The Pope wearing the triple crown was like a demigod, and he took advantage of her distraction to launch a sudden attack. Isabella fell to the ground without any power to resist.

Francis IV reached out his hand to support Her Majesty the Queen, picked her up by the waist and placed her on the wooden bed in the room.

An old hand with skin as smooth as tree bark gently stroked Isabella's flawless, baby-like smooth cheek.

The Pope's originally kind eyes were now filled with hatred and greed:

"Fernando is dead, and my efforts to suppress the British Empire and gain greater power have been in vain.

My journey to climb the 'Mount Creation' can only end here, and I will never have the chance to continue to climb to the expected summit.

This also made me finally understand a truth: two birds in the bush are not as good as one bird in the hand.

Maybe I was too perfectionist in the past and wanted to do everything the best, but I was at a loss under the attack of Byron Lancaster and lost St. Matthew, St. Peter and Fernando one after another.

Given my own high position as Pope, I could have performed the ceremony directly.

Even if I use the lowest level of ceremony to be promoted, as long as I become a fallen angel, killing Byron Lancaster will be as easy as killing a chicken!
I have seen the power he has demonstrated through Saint Peter's eyes. It is stronger than the ordinary [Crown], but there is nothing to be afraid of.

When I kill him, you will be my queen.

Even if Fernand died for me, I will still treat you as my wife and raise your children as if they were my own."

Looking at the Queen's bulging belly, the 70-year-old man's face was indeed full of kindness, and he did not lie to Isabella.

Although the child is not Francis IV's, the Pope inexplicably has a strong liking for the unborn child and looks at him as if he is looking at "himself".

After hesitating for a moment, he took out the zero-level holy relic [Holy Grail] that he was keeping and fed the silver liquid inside into Isabella's mouth.

At the Last Supper, the Son of God and his 11 disciples who did not betray him drank from a cup of red wine that symbolized his blood.

This holy relic has no lethal power, but it has the power to bring people back to life!
It is usually offered on the altar, and it can slowly absorb the thoughts and wishes of the believers to condense into "divine blood". It can bring the person back to life within seven days of death, but it is ineffective for people who died of old age.

But the cup was so badly damaged that it took ten years to condense a small amount of water.

This time, all the stock was fed to Isabella, which was equivalent to feeding it to her children.

Then he cut her wrist and used her blood, the Unsullied one that could repel all contamination, to fill the incomplete Holy Grail as his key ritual prop.

Finally, he wiped her wound, and her white wrist was immediately healed. Isabella's complexion was even better than before the bloodletting.

The Pope could not help thinking about it, so he took Saint Isabella's hand and kissed the back of her hand gently:
“Isabella, when you were born, I baptized you personally, canonized you as an archbishop, presided over your wedding, and crowned you personally.

Now, I am willing to pay the last tax for a priest to support a concubine for you."

After doing all this, he turned around and returned to the Papal Palace Auditorium, the most magnificent and solemn of all the Creator's churches in the material world, holding the Holy Grail in his hand.

He would complete his final ritual of depravity in this most sacred place.

Afterwards, all the residents in the city were summoned together, and according to the custom of "Night of the Dead", the entire sacred and solemn city was decorated into a ghost town.

No one knew why this was done, and no one dared to ask the clergy around them.

Then, regardless of gender, age or status, they gathered in seven squares where religious activities were usually held.

There isn't much else in the City of Seven Hills except for places used for ceremonies.

There are seven hills of different heights in the city, including Palatine, Capitoline, Esquiline and Aventine. Each hill is surrounded by squares, churches, temples and synagogues.

At its peak, there were millions of people living here, but now there are hundreds of thousands of people scattered around and it doesn't seem crowded at all.

These Orthodox believers are led by clergymen from the direct orders of the major saints, and are arranged in order from the first hill, Palatine, to the highest seventh hill, the Aventine Papal Palace.

There were at least tens of thousands of people kneeling beside each hill.

Om-!
Seven layers of [Silver Law] were spread out, each layer corresponding to a hill here, turning them into unshakable walls.

Everyone followed the clergy and repeated a passage from the Gospel of Creation:
“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, thou who made the nations fall!

You have said in your heart, “I will ascend to heaven; I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit on the mount of assembly.”
Yet you will be brought down to Sheol, to the depths of the Pit.”

The Pope listened to the chanting that echoed throughout the City of Seven Hills and nodded with satisfaction.

Since the ending of falling from the sky is to go to the underworld, then when the portal at the edge of the world of "Night of the Dead" opens, the difficulty of falling from the sky on the Mountain of Creation must be the least.

After falling into the world of the dead from the Mountain of Creation, they can just take back the mythical battleship [Noah's Ark] from the Mother of Monsters and continue the plan of plundering resources from the material world and escaping from the Locust Era.

This plan is perfect.

Bang!

The Pope waved his hand again and opened the zero-level holy relic [Golden Ark of the Covenant] which served as the core of the law, and threw aside the [Slate of the Holy Word] inside which was the covenant between man and God and engraved with the Ten Commandments like garbage.

He put in the Key of King Solomon which recorded the covenant between man and the 72 demons.

This blasphemous magic book has been dyed black and red by the blood of countless innocent believers during this period. Countless blood lines spread out and clung to the [Silver Law] like parasitic vines.

As it fell into the Ark of the Covenant, the legal network covering the entire Silver Continent began to be stained bloody.

The ceremony then began.

Francis IV waved his hand again to the saints and cardinals:

"You can go too, and each of you will be stationed at the Seven Hills. In the future, you will all become my subordinate gods and gain eternity."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Of the seven saints at the beginning of Orthodoxy, St. Peter and St. Matthew died in battle, and now there are five left: St. John, St. Simon, St. Lucia, St. Andrew, and St. William.

It just happens to form an inverted pentagram - the seal of King Solomon.

It originated from the strange seal ring worn by King Solomon that could drive the devil, guide people's spirit downward and assist their depravity.

Soon, the five saints took their positions, and the portals to the material world and the edge of the world opened.

All kinds of ghosts and evil spirits instantly filled this ancient religious city that had been purified by holy light for more than a thousand years.

The believers who were still praying devoutly as requested by the clergy were gradually surrounded by shrill sobs and dirty blood.

Some people could not hold on any longer, and some of the elderly, weak and sickest people with the weakest physical conditions gradually melted into the bloody air flow, leaving only a piece of clothing falling to the ground.

But there are also believers who are either strong or have spiritual potential. Suddenly, they exude the smell of blood and sulfur, and in the blink of an eye, they degenerate into various kinds of demon species.

He turned around and killed the living people around him.
There are more and more demons of all kinds in the crowd, and fewer and fewer living people.

The space where the City of Seven Hills was located began to separate from the material world and slowly transformed into the kingdom of a demigod.

Although Byron felt that at least one had to be a child to ask for candy on "Night of the Dead", the ghosts that surrounded him were obviously past their expiration date.

But he didn't want to alert the owner of the place as soon as he sneaked in.

The shadow under his feet spread, and the ghosts and monsters around him had just noticed the sound of water when they were all dragged to the bottom of the River Styx by bloody hands that stretched out from the water.

Before any screams of fear could emerge from their throats, they stopped abruptly.

His Majesty Saint Byron at least has a part-time job in the Corridor of Truth as [Pluto Osiris]. There are no undead spirits or rules that can control him.

Even if it is just a fifth-level Night Demon King mixed in with these ghosts, he must be at least a Ghost King.

This decadent city of seven hills may seem like the home of Orthodoxy, but in fact it should be his home!
Ghosts scare ghosts, scare ghosts to death.

Even though he used a tricky method and let the Lord God Byron collect the "Aura of Fear" on his behalf, Edward's life box was quietly filled up by more than half.

Then Byron and Amita each transformed themselves into the "Night Demon" which has a classic image in various bizarre legends.

He wore a formal dress inside and a black cape like bat wings outside.

With the help of [Fraud] and [Assassination] clergy, no one can see their flaws except for the demigods or the Pope in person.

As expected, none of the ghosts wandering around nearby came to ask them for candy anymore.

Then they turned into two afterimages and headed straight for the first hill, Palatino.

The logbook helped Byron read the rules of the secret realm. The kingdom of God was taking shape. If he didn't want to be hung on the hook like Ishtar, the goddess of Venus, he had to climb up the shortest hills one by one to reach the seventh floor of the Pope's Palace.

The two men had just arrived at the gate of the first hill, and before they could pass through the blood-stained bronze gate and step into the square filled with a strong smell of blood.

The stealthy footsteps of some quadrupedal animal were heard from behind the door, and then a strange creature walked out from the thick and impenetrable shadow.

It looks like a large hound without skin.

Only the white bones were left on the head, with two spots of scarlet in the hollow eye sockets. On the bloody body behind it, there were seven or eight tumor-like human faces slowly crawling. Byron recognized it. It was a dog demon, a lower-level follower of the demon species.

It was formed by the corruption of humans who only knew how to obey power and did not know how to resist. It seemed that it had eaten seven or eight living people and was promoted to the low-sequence second-level professional level.

Afterwards, another seventeen or eighteen dog demons that were several times smaller in size rushed out from behind the door.

Some of them ran straight towards Byron and Amita, while others turned around and started fighting with the large dog demon that appeared at the beginning.

The ink stain of the logbook in Byron's right eye:

“Under the Heaven-Falling Ceremony at Mount Creation, everything is falling.

At this time, the City of Seven Hills was shrouded in the law of the [Code of Solomon], and devouring each other to improve their ranks became a very reasonable rule, in line with the truth of "all things return to one".

These demon species can quickly advance by devouring each other here without any side effects.

For the old gods who converted to the source sea, chaos is the ultimate of the universe.

Those families who win in the battle will climb up the ranks and become families of the saints and Pope Francis IV, and worship devoutly in front of them. "

Byron finally realized it when he saw this:
“The fall of the Pope and the Saints is not a real fall, but a fall ritual to steal the demigod power of [Arrogant Morning Star Lucifer].

It's just like how the Assassins sent the 35th Old Man of the Mountain to seize the power of the Dark God.

But the Dark God has fallen long ago, and Lucifer is still alive and well. Maybe there are other incarnations of the priesthood who have come to the material world.

You, as mortals, eat gods. You are even more arrogant than Lucifer!

It can only be said that the ignorant are fearless.

Amitāb, speed up, let's go straight at them."

"Yes, Your Majesty. I will be your vanguard."

The two men no longer held back and activated the [Bleeding Fighting Technique]. The blood in their palms transformed into two thin swords. The man and the sword became one, and they rushed forward, one in front and one behind.

Two scarlet sword lights circled lightly among the dogs, leaving a pile of torn flesh and blood on the spot. A long river of blood followed, and nothing was left on the ground.

Along the way, he killed demons and ghosts. Whether they were demons or those weird and evil spirits, they were all easily chopped into two.

Most of the lower-level clans are non-human demon species, such as spider demons, snake demons, dog demons, bone demons, etc.

When they arrived at the core church where a saint named Saint William was in charge, a more advanced humanoid demon species finally appeared.

The weapons in their hands are also varied, mostly heavy weapons such as hammers, flails, and giant swords.

Eighty percent of these are former Orthodox clergy.

The two people blended in with the priesthood of [Fraud] and [Assassination], and appeared inconspicuous.

Soon, St. William, one of the five saints, was seen sitting on the altar where the Son of God was supposed to be enshrined.

His aura is obviously much stronger than that of Saint Matthew and Saint Peter who have not experienced the baptism of the Falling Ritual. He has already begun his promotion to the fifth-order pseudo-god level with the help of the Falling Ritual.

The mythical form has changed greatly in appearance. The lower body is a bird, and the upper body is a human. However, it has four heads of a cow, a human, a lion and an eagle, and two pairs of wings behind it.

All four faces were filled with arrogance.

The most distinctive characteristic of [Arrogant Morning Star Lucifer], "arrogance" of the seven deadly sins, is fully reflected.

He did not forbid the demons who won the fight to continue climbing to higher levels. As long as they could kill and devour an opponent in the melee, they would get a pass.

Strangely, whenever Saint William looked at those clansmen who chose to continue climbing up, a hint of ill will and gloating appeared on his face.

Byron hesitated:

"Should we kill him here?"

This thought was dispelled in an instant.

It would be fine if they just hid among those families and did some small tricks, but if they attacked the saint directly, they would definitely be discovered by the Pope.

Living people are not bosses at the end of a level who just wait for brave men to come and defeat them. At the slightest sign of trouble, they will probably be attacked by a group of people immediately.

The key now is to kill the Pope who is the core of the ceremony. As long as he is killed, everything will be fine.

So after Byron and Amita each killed a humanoid demon, they accelerated past Saint William and rushed to the next level.

The further you go in, the more tragic the scene becomes.

Throughout the holy city, skulls were scattered all over the ground like mountains, endless ribs formed a forest, and human hair formed a carpet on the ground. It was simply a hell on earth consisting of a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood.

On the side of the road, there was a white-haired old man with no scars on his body, only his skull was opened and his brains were missing.

The murderer is probably some ape-like demon who loves to eat brains and believes that the old man's brain is more intelligent and more delicious;
Continuing walking, we saw a little girl who was probably only eight or nine years old had been eaten half, and the remaining half was thrown aside.

Her golden braids are neatly combed and have a cute little shell hairpin on them, which shows that her family must love her very much.

But the blue eyes that should have been full of innocence were now empty. There was no future and no family.
Any believer standing here outside would probably not believe that this is the foot of St. Peter's Basilica.

Byron and Amitāb were exuding murderous aura that was almost visible to the naked eye.

"Your Majesty! We..."

"Tolerate!"

Their goal remains the same, they must kill the Pope first.

He could only suppress his murderous intent and refrain from slaughtering the saints stationed on the hills behind.

The mythical form grew into a cluster of gorgeous flowers, in each of which grew a scarlet-eyed Saint Lucia;

St. Simon grew into a golden chariot with flames spurting from its wheels.
Even when they saw these fallen saints devouring the believers who once trusted them so much, neither of them took action.

Until he met St. John, the strongest man stationed on the penultimate hill, Syrio.

The appearance is also very abstract, with a huge eye in the middle and seven circular rings full of eyes around it. There is no blind spot and it is always watching in all directions.

There are not many demons that can walk here, and all of them are fourth-level mythical creatures.

The moment Amita saw St. John, she was refreshed and sent a message to Byron through the anchor chain of faith:

"Your Majesty, this is the person who assassinated your client. The only thing missing for my demigod promotion ceremony is his head!"

This time Byron did not ask her to endure it any longer, but just warned her:

"I will kill the Pope, and you will kill Saint John.

Then join me in dragging him directly into your kingdom of God and ending the battle quickly."

"clear."

The latter nodded vigorously and strode towards St. John.

St. John didn't look at Amitā, who was only at the "fourth level" and posed no threat to him.

Instead, like the saints before him, he looked at Byron and another male demon walking towards the last floor with a hint of gloating in his eyes.

Byron ignored this anomaly. As long as they were not targeting him specifically, it would be a small problem if they discovered his disguise.

Just as they stepped into the Pope's Palace.

He finally understood why those saints all had such expressions.

An extremely blasphemous ceremony was taking place in the auditorium.

Black candles burned on the table, the Eucharist was stained with human bodily fluids, and the Level Zero Relic Holy Grail was filled with bright red blood.

An unbaptized newborn was drowned in holy water, and the altar was decorated with owls, bats, toads, and all kinds of ominous animals.

The silver cross was placed upside down on the ground.

Pope Francis IV is sitting on this cross with no clothes on and a big sword on his back.

At this moment, he seemed to be thirty years younger, his hair turned black, his body was exceptionally strong and sturdy, full of strength, and he was surrounded by at least dozens of beautiful and enchanting demons, succubi, nightmare banshees, and vampires.
Together they engaged in profane love-making in this solemn hall.

The silver cross beneath him was quickly dyed black and red.

A word popped into Byron's mind:

"Black Mass Ritual!"

Any ritual that is against the Creator Church and that defiles holy objects in exchange for power is classified as a black mass.

There is probably no ceremony in the world that better fits the word "degenerate" than this one.

The moment he set foot in the auditorium, the male demon who came in with Byron was infected by the corrupt aura that filled the auditorium, and he "evolved" into a female succubus in the blink of an eye!
Under Byron's horrified gaze, he/she was attracted by the person of the Pope, and involuntarily threw himself/herself into his arms and sat down.

hiss--!
“This is the source of the gloating of those saints.”

The aura of corruption also fell upon Byron, but it was completely unable to shake his priesthood of [Change] and save him from the tragic fate of social death.

However, it also completely exposed his outlier status to Francis IV.

The demigod status of the [Pontiff's Triple Crown] helped him see through Byron's true identity, and his expression suddenly changed:
"Byron Lancaster? The City of Seven Hills is already my kingdom of God. How could you come here without making any noise?!"

Obviously, the two people who aspired to be the captain of the material world were caught off guard by this unexpected king-to-king battle.

However, Francis IV, who had long hated Byron to the point of gnashing his teeth, had fantasized about this scene countless times.

Instinctive reflex.

He suddenly raised his right hand wearing the [Fisherman's Ring] and pointed it at Byron. The [Pontifical Triple Crown] on his head emitted three bright halos of light. The strong wind around him blew his hair into the air, and he issued the most severe judgment in a stern voice:
"I, Pope Francis IV, in the name of the Lord, excommunicate Byron Lancaster! Strip him of his Torah Network rights!

Kneel down! "

(End of this chapter)