Master the Abyss, starting from an apprentice priest.

Chapter 248 Visit and Secret Talk

Red Maple City Church, the residence of the high priest.

Colen led the "Grand Inquisitor" Baines and City Lord Nelson to the reception room.

After a short wait, the church's "high priest" Luo Xiu walked down the second-floor stairs. Lord Nelson stood up and let Baines greet him on his behalf.

"I am late, Lord Baines."

Luo Xiu smiled, nodded to Baines, and said:
"May your holy light be with you forever, Lord Baines. Celebrate our common victory."

"The decisive battle just ended. I thought you needed to rest for a while."

After greeting Baines, Luo Xiu walked to the main seat at the top and sat down. Lord Nelson came behind Baines and served him.

"Celebrate our common victory. Haha, I really want to rest."

Baines laughed, his wrinkles piled up to reveal a smile, and said: "But the affairs of the 'Border Court' are too busy. Even after the decisive battle, it is difficult for me to completely relax."

"This is what everyone in our position has to go through. I think you can understand me, Lord Luo Xiu, the 'Grand Priest'."

"No, after all, I'm not as good as you who have rich experience and qualifications." Luo Xiu shook his head with a wry smile and responded to Baines.

The brief greeting ended here, and Baines changed the subject and said:

"I told you before the decisive battle, Lord Luo Xiu."

"I once said that after the decisive battle, I would come to the church to visit you in person, Master Luo Xiu. Now, I have come to keep the appointment as scheduled."

It seems to be true... Luo Xiu recalled the conversation he had with Baines when they first met. He then listened to Baines say:

"Mr. Luo Xiu, I formally invite you."

"In the previous decisive battle with the Dark Vanguard, we successfully won the final victory and returned victoriously. I once said that when we return victorious, I will set up a banquet at the side court, and I invite you to come and honor us."

“Now is the time for me to fulfill that promise.”

After saying that, Baines raised his head, a faint smile appeared on his face, and he looked at Luo Xiu calmly, waiting for his reply.

"Thank you for your invitation, Mr. Baines." Luo Xiu nodded and answered without hesitation, "You can give me an exact time, and I will go there on time."

The "celebration banquet" arranged by the [Supreme] is a "standard procedure" that will be carried out after every major victory.

They would invite prestigious people in the area to participate. Luo Xiu, the "High Priest" who was the highest authority in the "Red Maple City Church", was naturally also on their invitation list.

Similarly, the two great generalists of the "Fangbei Academy" will also receive invitations. This is a good opportunity for Luo Xiu to expand his network in a non-church official setting.

In addition, the banquet would not take him too long and would basically not conflict with his original schedule, so Luo Xiu agreed very readily.

Seeing that Luo Xiu agreed, Baines nodded slowly. City Lord Nelson behind him showed a look of joy. He took a step forward, bowed to Luo Xiu and said:

"Thank you for your presence, Lord Luo Xiu, the 'High Priest'. We have tentatively scheduled the banquet to be held tomorrow evening, and someone will come to the church to pick you up."

Tomorrow evening? That would not conflict with his plan to have Anthony organize the Holy Inquisition to investigate the forest... Luo Xiu thought to himself, and nodded and said, "Okay, I approve of your plan."

After Luo Xiu agreed to attend the celebration banquet, City Lord Nelson retreated behind Baines. The three people in the reception room were silent for a while, and Luo Xiu broke the silence and asked Baines:
"Mr. Baines, your personal visit this time should not be just for the invitation?"

Luo Xiu had noticed this a long time ago. The reason why "Grand Inquisitor" Baines came to the church to pay him a visit was actually for something deeper.

After hearing Luo Xiu's question, Baines just nodded slowly, but did not say anything to Luo Xiu first.

He just turned around and said to Lord Nelson:

"You step aside first, Nelson. Lord Luo Xiu and I have something important to discuss."

"Yes, Lord Baines."

Upon hearing this, City Lord Nelson nodded in response, then he bowed slightly to Luo Xiu, left the reception room lightly, closed the door, and waited outside as a "waiter".

After Nelson closed the door, Baines' face showed a serious expression, and he said to Luo Xiu solemnly:

"Mr. Luo Xiu, you should have seen some strange things on the battlefield just now."

"Strange things?" Luo Xiu's face also showed seriousness. He said, "Do you mean... the group that claims to be the apostles of the Holy Abyss, or the monsters released by the beast trainers of the Black Army?"

"Both." Baines said in a low voice, "No matter which side they are on, it is beyond the scope of the intelligence we have at the Border."

"The horde of monsters released by the 'beast tamer' is still within the controllable range. I have already asked the 'acting dean' of Fangbei Academy, Irfan. According to him, it should be a rare species of monsters."

"...Rare race?" Luo Xiu asked back with a puzzled look on his face.

He knew very well that it was the real "Abyss Beast", but he couldn't reveal this information to Baines just like that. Now was not the right time.

Since Master Elvan of Fangbeiyuan had some understanding of this, Luo Xiu was happy to listen to what Baines said next.

Baines nodded and said, "Yes, a rare species. The great alchemist told me that they have obvious characteristics of monsters, but also have abilities beyond those of monsters."

"Before, when we were cleaning up the battlefield, we captured thirteen of those monsters that were not completely killed. We handed them over to Fangbei Academy, and just this morning, the scholars there reported the results to us."

"Erfan's research shows that they have a certain ability to eat the flesh and blood of their own kind to strengthen themselves. This ability also affects their demonic nature. After you killed the 'tamer', the group of monsters lost control and began to kill each other. This is the reason."

...This is indeed the characteristic of the "Abyss Beast", "Devouring the Black Abyss", which can devour the soul and flesh of others and turn it into its own power... While Luo Xiu was thinking, he listened to Baines continue:

"…Alvan has only obtained these research results for now. As for how those monsters appeared and how they were controlled by the 'Beast Tamer' Crow, we don't know for now."

"And this time, the monsters released by Claure are the first in the empire and even in the entire Fanol continent. I will report this incident to the Law Office of Songyuan Territory. If necessary, I will also have the lord's mansion send someone to investigate the matter directly."

"Well, I have no objection." Luo Xiu nodded. "I haven't had much contact with those scary-looking hyenas. In this regard, you are more familiar with it than us."

"And speaking of this, Lord Baines, we are also puzzled by the appearance of the group of 'hyenas' and are prepared to investigate the matter in our own way."

"About two days later, I will ask my deacon, Anthony, the chief of the church's 'Holy Inquisition', to organize the Holy Inquisitors to go deep into the coniferous forest for investigation. In fact, I have already visited the surrounding area before, and the group of 'hyenas' should come from an 'ancient seal'." "Ancient seal?" Baines responded with some doubt, but he quickly accepted Luo Xiu's statement and said:

"So that's how it is. When we were cleaning up the battlefield, we only collected and burned all the bodies on the battlefield, and we didn't check the forest. If those monsters really came from the 'Ancient Seal', then it would explain why the Dark Army wanted to burn the forest."

"And I, alas, was only fighting those monsters at the time and didn't have the extra energy to pay attention to these things. Do you need help, Lord Luo Xiu? I can ask Frosa and the Royal Guards to assist you."

Hearing this, Luo Xiu shook his head and said, "In this decisive battle, the knights of the Border suffered the greatest losses, and Lord Frosa's injuries were particularly serious."

"I think it's best to let Lord Frosa take care of himself. I will share the results of the investigation with you."

First, he explained the "investigation" arrangement to Baines, and then politely rejected Baines' idea of ​​interfering in the investigation. This was Luo Xiu's negotiation gesture towards the "Bianting".

Bian Ting will notice this sooner or later, but Luo Xiu does not want any extra people to get involved in his investigation too early, even after the "Abyss Beast" has appeared - the power of the [Abyss] may appear in advance, but before that, he needs to keep as much intelligence as possible in his own hands to avoid many unnecessary troubles in advance.

Afterwards, he would "share" the second-hand intelligence he obtained from the investigation with Border Court as needed, which would also help Luo Xiu secretly control Border Court's arrangements for this.

Now, Baines obviously didn't realize what kind of disaster was hidden in the forest. It would be a good thing for Luo Xiu to let them still understand the "Abyss Beast" as a "rare monster".

"Hmm..." Baines pondered for a while. Although he worshipped the Supreme and naturally had a strong desire to control the overall situation, what Luo Xiu said was indeed true.

Getting involved in one more field means taking on more trouble and risk. Since the church and Fangbeiyuan are prepared to conduct corresponding exploration and research, Bianting will no longer spend extra energy.

Baines nodded and said, "Okay, I understand. I'll leave the investigation to you, Mr. Luo Xiu."

"I'm waiting for your good news."

After a pause, Baines continued:

"After that, it was my biggest worry. It was also this incident that made me feel more anxious than ever before."

"..." As Baines said this, the expression on Luo Xiu's face became complicated.

He turned to Baines and asked, "You mean, about the 'Holy Abyss'?"

Baines nodded heavily and said:
"The group of people who were suddenly teleported to the battlefield claimed to serve the 'Holy Abyss' and follow the only 'Lord'."

"I have never heard of such a force before. At that time, there were five 'quadruple-level destiny' and more than ten 'triple-level destiny' transcendents appearing on the battlefield at the same time."

"They even belong to different destinies, but they can serve the same 'Holy Abyss' and the same 'Lord'... This situation is quite rare. Only us [Supreme] and [Nothingness] destiny walkers can do something similar."

No...it's not just [Supreme] and [Nothingness]... Luo Xiu muttered in his heart.

He heard Baines continue, "Who could that 'Honorable Lord' be... Someone who can control so many 'Fourfold Fate' transcendents at the same time must be at least a 'Fivefold Fate' saint."

"If this is the case, then we need to consider more enemies that we may face."

"..."

Under Luo Xiu's gaze, the anxiety on Baines' face became more and more serious. The "unknown" may have made him feel afraid. The omnipresent sense of threat seemed to be eroding his spirit.

...Of course he doesn't know that the 'honorable master' is actually me... Luo Xiu thought to himself, and seeing that Baines didn't say anything more, Luo Xiu took over the topic and said:
"Try on the bright side, Lord Baines."

"Since in the previous battle, the apostles serving the Holy Abyss did not take any hostile actions against you, but instead saved the lives of many Border Knights from the claws of the hyena monsters, I think we can temporarily judge that they are not a threat."

"——At least, in the current situation, we cannot actively create threats. Even though the 'Executioner' Afatak and his dark remnant army have retreated twenty-three miles away, don't forget that the executioner behind their 'Fang Head' may arrive soon."

"I think that at this point, 'waiting' is the better option. If our interests are aligned with that 'Holy Abyss', they will take the initiative to contact us."

"..."

"...Well, I agree with your point of view."

Baines nodded, but then shook his head and said, "But this does not mean that we have compromised with hidden organizations like the Holy Abyss. It is because, even if we know the details of the other party, we do not have enough power to control or even completely eliminate them for the time being."

"They are an organization with at least five 'quadruple destiny' transcendents, and there may even be 'quintuple destiny' saints. It is not clear whether they have formed an army. Otherwise, even if the entire Red Maple City, including the Border Court, the Church, and the Square Monument Court, is mobilized, they may not be completely wiped out."

"I have submitted an application to the Law Office of Songyuan Territory, hoping that Marquis Bakar will send us more personnel. After all, the Red Maple City Border Court, of which I am the temporary president, has indeed achieved the best record among the border fortresses of Songyuan Territory. The Marquis should not ignore my request."

"Once reinforcements arrive and we have enough power to firmly control the life and death of the Holy Abyss, I won't have to worry about these things anymore. By then, it will be up to us to eradicate the Holy Abyss or use them for our own benefit."

"Don't you think so, Mr. Luo Xiu?"

As if he had finally expressed the thoughts that had been accumulating in his heart for a long time, Luo Xiu vaguely sensed that a look of relief appeared on Baines' face for a moment.

But Baines did not notice that the expression on the face of the "high priest" of the church opposite him, Ross Carlos, became complicated for a moment.

"Well, you are right, Lord Baines."

"I agree with you."

Luo Xiu responded to Baines with a smile on his face.

——The Border is sending more people? And Baines is actually thinking of dominating the Holy Abyss...

——He can't do it, absolutely can't do it. Because I will soon be promoted to the "Fifth Fate", and by that time, the scale of "Holy Abyss" will expand again, far exceeding the current "Border".

——But, um. Baines was right before. Holy Abyss could indeed consider forming an army and keeping it as a private army in the Forgotten King's Court.

——Also, before their support from the "Border Court" arrives, I can consider contacting him in advance, as I said before.

——Well, it's like "Close Encounters of the Third Kind".

——…

As Luo Xiu thought about this, he made a secret decision in his heart.

……

(End of this chapter)