Master the Abyss, starting from an apprentice priest.

Chapter 399 Ariel Sigalia (5k)

——Latama City!
Luo Xiu, the "bishop" of the church, who was sitting on another main throne, nodded slightly with a thoughtful look on his face.

"Latama City" was the name of the city that was obtained earlier with the help of the "Divine Revelation" - the town where a new batch of "Abyss Beasts" will appear.

Because the "Divine Revelation" prayed down the true oracle - this had a certain influence at the beginning of the expedition when Luo Xiu, Albert, Alvan, Eureka and others discussed the expedition plan.

"Latama City" is an important city that one will definitely encounter on the way to Fafnir City during the "Holy Expedition".

And that was also the experience field that Luo Xiu had prepared long ago, which allowed his players to "kill monsters" -

"Our next target is 'Latama City', which is located on a barren plain one hundred and forty miles west of us and the Kaveri Fortress."

As Luo Xiu recalled and pondered, he heard Albert continue to speak in a low and powerful voice:

"That is the place where the 'Bishop' used divine light to ask for the oracle to guide him. We have already learned that there is a disaster that will befall us."

As he spoke, Albert's gaze turned slightly and looked at Luo Xiu, who was nodding slightly and thinking about something with his eyes closed, sitting on the throne belonging to the "Bishop" next to him.

Feeling Albert's gaze, Luo Xiu nodded slightly and spoke softly:
“…That is an unblessed place.”

"The seeds of disaster have taken root and sprouted there, and [Glory] will purify them. To reach our final destination, 'Fafnir City', we must first overcome this place, eliminate the disaster here, and enter Latama City."

"..."

Following the pre-prepared lines, Luo Xiu said these in a calm and clear voice, then closed his eyes and nodded again, returning to his listening posture at the beginning.

Albert nodded, and looked at the people in the hall under the two main seats, and said:
"That's what I meant, too."

"We already know about the city of Latama. There are three 'Executioners' stationed there, and we have already learned the identities and names of two of them."

"Two days later, after the expeditionary force had a good rest at the Kaveri Fortress, we set out again and headed for the 'Latama City'."

……

Afterwards, the meeting in Caffrey Hall continued for two hours.

When "Thunder General" Albert Perez and "Bishop" Ross Carlos reached a consensus at the very beginning, the rest of the people naturally had no objection to choosing "Latama City" as the next target of the expedition.

Afterwards, General Albert, the "commander-in-chief" of the expeditionary force, disclosed to all participants the information that he had learned about the executioner stationed in "Latama City".

The identities and names of the two "Executioners" are already known - one is [Intelligence] Destiny, "Omniscient Attendant" Calivian, who possesses quite strange alchemical technology, and he seems to have a close connection with the "Hidden Omniscient".

The other "Executioner" is the [Supreme] Destiny - he is a "Order Killer", the "Order Killer Sword" specially conferred by the Dark Grand Duke, the 'Insane Viscount' Yasuo De, and he is also the person in the entire Fafnir territory whose status is second only to the lord, the "Chief Executioner" Fafnir.

The identity of the third executioner is currently unknown. However, with the combat power of Luo Xiu and Albert, they should be able to deal with the two known executioners stationed in Latama City.

——This is Albert’s judgment.

But Luo Xiu actually knew that given Albert's current condition, if he really reached the city of Latama and was besieged by three executioners, it would still be dangerous.

Because Albert had not yet recovered from the injuries he received during the previous defense of Red Maple City, although his left arm that was severed by the "Silver Blood Dragonborn" Quilton had been reattached, it still took some time to recover.

The best situation, of course, is that Albert does not participate in any fierce battles, and all enemies with "fifth-level fate" and above will be left to him to deal with -

Luo Xiu did think so, because this way he could make Albert owe him a big favor, and he could also enjoy the experience and expertise rewards, and advance the progress of the promotion task [Ascension of the Holy Wings] at the fastest speed.

He calculated that the 20000 "Divine Punishment" points required for the fourth objective of the promotion mission [Ascension of the Holy Wings] should be completed before arriving in Fafnir City.

And now, if he kills the saints of the "Fifth Destiny", he can stably obtain a specialty of "epic" quality or above. After he is promoted to the Sixth Destiny, it will be difficult to obtain a specialty of this quality by killing these executioners.

The surplus value of squeezing the level cap belongs to yes.

It is based on these considerations that letting Albert not participate in the battle, or trying not to participate in the battle as the main force, may be a good thing for himself.

After all, if the Supreme Divine Knights really want to fight, they will cause great damage, and it is not so easy to snatch the heads from Albert...

And at the level of "Fifth Destiny", except for a very small number of old monsters like the "Lord of Blood Sacrifice", there are very few saints at this level who can pose a fatal threat to himself.

Even without Albert's help in the battle, my own safety should be guaranteed...

Luo Xiu was thinking about this.

However, in a city like Latama, where there are three or more "executioners" guarding it at the same time, it is still a bit difficult for me to face them alone.

But of course - this wasn't the only preparation they had made in advance.

The leader of another expeditionary force that set out on the journey of judgment at the same time as the Red Maple City Expeditionary Force - a "Knight of Divine Seal" from the Snowd Fortress in Songyuan Territory, "General Winter" Lansas, the third seat of the "Round Table" will approach the city of Latama from another direction at the same time as the Red Maple City Expeditionary Force arrives at that city and meet up with the Red Maple City Expeditionary Force.

However, this information was not announced at the meeting in the synagogue. It was information known only to Albert, Luo Xiu, and several supreme beings and priests of the "Fourfold Destiny".

The main topic of discussion in the following meetings was the allocation of some details and some detailed tactical arrangements.

And that is mainly the home ground of the supreme ones of the "Border Court".

Most of the time, Luo Xiu and the clergy of his church just listened, and only when asked by Albert did Luo Xiu express some opinions at the appropriate time.

He really felt that whatever happened was fine, and Albert and several throne knights from the "Border Court" did understand the battlefield better than he did. As long as the tactics they decided on did not have any major loopholes, Luo Xiu would not say much.

For him, being "quiet" and "listening" as well as maintaining a sacred and solemn image are more in line with the identity of a "bishop" in such occasions.

…but there was indeed some imprisonment.

It was just like in my previous life, every Monday morning I went to the company to attend a long and boring regular meeting.

However, in comparison, it is much more interesting to listen to the strategic arrangements and tactical formulations discussed by the supreme beings of the "Border Court".

……

After two hours, the meeting in the hall finally ended.

All the extraordinary people with "quadruple destiny" and below left the hall one after another. When only Albert, Luo Xiu, and their servants were left in the huge hall, Albert stood up from his main seat and came to Luo Xiu.

A relaxed expression finally appeared on his face. The previous meeting had indeed made him a little tense.

"Sometimes, I do envy you, Luo Xiu."

Luo Xiu heard Albert say to him:

"It's in situations like this that you can still maintain a certain level of relaxation."

relaxation……

He always felt that Albert's evaluation of him was strange, but inexplicably quite accurate, so he also stood up and said to Albert with a smile:
"It's just that this isn't a 'holy' occasion."

"If the church holds a ceremony of 'Divine Revelation' or 'Altar Ceremony' next time, I will invite you to come, Mr. Albert."

"Then, the one who can feel 'relaxed' will be you."

"Haha, if there is a chance." Albert smiled.

This relaxed atmosphere did not last long. Albert quickly put away the smile on his face and said to Luo Zheng in a serious tone:

"Well, now - it's time to 'visit' that old friend and have a good chat with 'Ariel Sigalia'."

"That Sigallia must know a lot of secrets about Fafnir Territory. That will help us make a detailed plan and prevent us from overlooking something important."

After a pause, Albert's expression became serious, and he continued:

"Also - I want to know from him whether there are any people from Songyuan Territory's [Supreme], [Wisdom], or even among your [Glory]."

"So, come with me, Luo Xiu?"

"This is my invitation - that Sigallia might be afraid to see me, but he probably won't resist seeing you."

"..."

"can."

Luo Xiu nodded.

He happened to have no other plans afterwards, so he decided to go with Albert. It just so happened that he might be able to get some inside information about the infiltration of the Golden Country Bank from Ariel Sigalia.

He can also take this opportunity to meet more people from the "Golden Country", and maybe use them as bargaining chips to negotiate new cooperation with the shareholder families of the "Golden Country Bank".

……

It's approaching evening.

Kaveri Fortress, Sigalia Mansion.

This is a manor house built on a side street. In the afterglow of dusk, it stands beside the lonely and deserted street.

The old stone walls are covered with mottled erosion marks, moss grows wildly between the cracks in the walls, and the wrought iron gate is rusted and half open, as if inviting the passing of wind and frost.

The four "Royal Knights" who had received orders from "Thunder General" Albert were stationed in front of the gate on this side. Royal Knights were also stationed on the other three sides of the Sigalia Mansion to prevent any unrelated people from entering or leaving the mansion.

When the Knights of the Royal Guard saw their "General" Albert and the "Bishop" of the church appear before them, they placed their long weapons on the ground and saluted the two high-ranking officials respectfully.

"How's it going, Avery?"

"General, and Bishop."

The leading Royal Guard Knight named "Avery" reported to Albert and Luo Xiu:

"Three hours ago, two 'Black Fangs' tried to sneak into the mansion, but were killed on the spot by us."

"Their purpose?"

"They are extraordinary people from Ku Tu, and their profession should be assassins. Their purpose seems to be to assassinate Ariel Sigalia, and indeed only poisonous daggers and hidden weapons were found on them, nothing else was found."

"I see."

Albert nodded and said to the "Royal Knight" Avery:

"Keep monitoring this place closely. Your Excellency the Bishop and I will go in. Do not let anyone get close to this place."

"Yes," Avery responded briefly and without hesitation.

Afterwards, Albert and Luo Xiu walked towards the Sigalia mansion.

In Luo Xiu's eyes, the first thing he noticed was the overgrown weeds in the courtyard inside the mansion, with rows of withered shrubs barely outlining the meticulous gardening that had once been there.

It's been a long, long time since anyone has been hired to take care of this place.

It seems that Ariel Sigaria's life in his later years was also quite difficult, but he still owned this mansion, which was his last dignity.

While thinking about this, Luo Xiu and Albert had arrived at the center of the mansion's courtyard.

Occasionally, the sound of birds singing can be heard from the sparse branches, as if recalling the hustle and bustle of the past.

The fountain in the center of the courtyard has been dry for many years, the faces of the stone animal heads are blurred, and the scene of splashing water in the past can only be found in the few remaining traces.

The pergola next to it had long been covered by overgrown vines. A snail was crawling slowly among the green leaves, and the afterglow before sunset cast a faint yellow light on its shell.

Luo Xiu and Albert have arrived in front of a single-family villa in the middle, which has a Spanish style.

Two waiters - or rather, "slaves" dressed in "waiter" uniforms and wearing metal neck rings - were standing in front of the porch of the villa, looking at the new guests with lifeless eyes.

They were the "property" of Ariel Sigalia. When Albert and Luo Xiu came in front of them, they bowed and saluted, skillfully but stiffly.

"Master Sigallia is inside, two guests."

A waiter who looked like a maid said in a non-angry voice:
"Please come in."

"..."

Albert didn't react at all during the whole process, while Luo Xiu just glanced at them lightly, and then he stopped looking at them and looked straight ahead.

They walked straight into the open door leading to the interior and walked into a long and somewhat dark corridor.

The tapestries on the walls on both sides retreated at a constant speed in Luo Xiu's field of vision. The patterns on them had long faded and appeared blurry.

The floor was still creaking. Because of the accumulated water or some other reason, Luo Xiu felt that the soles of his feet always felt sunken or swollen.

Soon, they arrived at the hall.

Dust covered the ornate murals and intricately carved furniture, and a chandelier was shaky, providing dim light that could barely pick out the cobwebs on the table.

Even inside the villa, it is similar to the courtyard of the mansion, and no one has taken care of it for a long time.

Perhaps it was because Ariel Sigaria could no longer leave his bed - he could not see the scene outside the room, so his servants and his "slaves" became lazy.

Luo Xiu thought about these things in a divergent way.

He and Albert had already walked up the stairs to the second floor of the villa.

It was here that he saw another "Royal Knight"——

The knight was guarding the door of a room, which was the room belonging to "Ariel Sigalia".

When he saw Albert and Luo Xiu coming, he first bowed respectfully to the two high-ranking people, then opened the door for them and stepped back.

Luo Xiu and Albert walked straight into the deepest room.

An old man lying on the bed with some wet spots all over his face came into Luo Xiu's sight.

That was Ariel Sigallia.

His face was terribly thin, and his skin was like withered bark. His eyes, hidden under his thick eyelids, were slightly open, looking in the direction of the door. The light in his pupils was dim, and it was a turbid look of absent-mindedness.

Beside him was a "Royal Knight" who was directly monitoring him, and another "maid" who took care of him and served him - she also had a steel ring on her slender neck covered with marks from ligatures, and was also a "slave", but compared to the other slaves, she was a slave that Ariel Sigalia liked more.

She was holding a hot towel in her hand, wiping the body of the old man on the sickbed. Her cold, dead-looking face showed no expression, and she just repeated the wiping motion skillfully.

Luo Xiu just watched this scene, thinking about other things, and didn't say anything else.

Ariel Sigalia lay on the sickbed, breathing weakly, and it could be felt that his vitality was almost exhausted.

"..."

"You guys are finally here... ahem."

In Luo Xiu's ears, he heard Ariel Sigalia cough twice, making a weak and old voice.

"I know you will come, definitely..."

"Hey... As expected, Zaska will die. He can't stop you at all..."

"I tried to persuade him. But it doesn't matter. Anyway, I am already a dying man."

"..."

The old man on the bed, Ariel Sigaria, turned over and found a lying position that could reduce the stress on his neck as much as possible and allow his eyes to look at the two guests without turning, and said:
"You also have many...many things you want to ask me, right?"

"Ask me, you can ask me anything."

"I know a lot..."

"Just think of it as a way to show my...sincerity, or as atonement."

"Ask me, as long as I know..."

"I can tell you everything."

……

(End of this chapter)