I, the wizard, the foolish Buddha.

Half a minute ago
Inside the magnificent hall, a summit meeting was underway.

The Holy Sacrament of Light and Shadow was consecrated, and Cardinal John Johnson, the rector of the College of Cardinals, attended in place of the Pope to receive Prince Alaye.

Accompanied by Brianna, the chief advisor to the Codex and Grand Master of the Holy Order of the Light and Shadow of the Holy Orbis, as well as numerous officials from the Congregation for Jurisprudence, Congregation for Doctrine of the Faith, Congregation for Liturgy, and Congregation for Sacraments within the Vatican.

The Covenant of the Books was also present, represented by John, the Undersecretary of the Covenant of the Books. However, he did not sit in a seat, but instead took photos with many scribes and reporters below.

Today's content will be written by the Department of Books and Scriptures. The reporters are only responsible for taking photos. The news will also be reviewed and approved by the Department of Law before it is published.

The Vatican had a large number of attendees. Although His Holiness St. Andor did not personally receive Prince Alaye, Johnson, as one of the most important bishops in the Cardinal Order (which has more than two hundred members), shares some of the Pope's administrative duties.

In contrast, Alaye's group was much smaller, consisting of only Prince Alaye, Princess White Chess, and six attendants. Moreover, these six individuals held relatively low-ranking administrative positions in the Eastern Territory, serving merely as disciples of Prince Alaye.

The goddess Olivia did not accompany the prince, but instead sent two holy maidens, Teresa and Maria, to accompany him, as a way of informing the Holy See that the goddess still favored Alaye, but not much.

The absence of Regent Charles and others from the Orbis Empire, who were originally supposed to attend, is quite intriguing.

However, according to the message secretly conveyed to the Book of Books by Ms. Brianna, the chief counselor of the Code, certain people who were unable to attend should be listed, such as the Queen of Olivia and Prince Regent Charles.

It seems that while the Orbis have expressed their stance internally, they also hope to maintain the relationship between the two sides externally.

It seems that although Orbis's first meeting with Prince Alaye was unpleasant, they still hope that the two sides can take a more harmonious step in the future.

Today's meeting wasn't a formal dialogue, but rather a reception. Prince Alaye wasn't the ruler of the Eastern Territory, nor did he hold any official position. But everyone knew he was the future ruler, and his attitude would influence the future course of events.

Therefore, the Vatican attaches great importance to this, and His Excellency Bishop Johnson has been paying close attention (pretending) and has raised many important questions (pretending).

However, the prince was drowsy (completely perfunctory), and even when Princess Helena quietly nudged him awake, he remained absent-minded (completely perfunctory).

Occasionally, his expression would become very agitated or distressed (in sync with his thoughts), as if he were lost in thought.

The situation today seems more complicated than expected, leaving even John, a writer who is usually very politically astute, completely bewildered.

Some speculate that Prince Alaye may have had some unpleasantness with the throne of Olivia, and therefore the prince may lose divine favor, which is why he appears so lost and absent-minded.

In any case, Prince Alaye didn't seem to say anything meaningful, and looked like he just wanted to end things as soon as possible.

This left Lord John of the Books Department at a loss as to how to record the information. Everyone was also worried about the news to be published tomorrow.

Brianna and Johnson were also very anxious—we've been acting so cooperatively, why don't you at least put on a little act? Now it's like Alayer has no intention of cooperating with the Vatican!

Just then, a sacred pillar of light suddenly appeared in the hall.

Everyone was stunned when they saw the beam of light.

That was the teleportation light emanating from the holy monument, and it shouldn't have been here unless someone had stolen the Order's research findings on the core secrets of the Holy See.
What stunned everyone even more were the three people who descended from the pillar of light.

They were the archangels of the goddess of sincerity—she looked completely bewildered, seemingly not expecting to be suddenly transported here.

Then there is the revered throne of Olivia—she is quietly knitting a sweater, seemingly unaware of where she is.

Finally, there's Prince Alaye. Wait a minute?!
Everyone looked at Prince Alaye, then at the Prince Alaye in his seat, and were completely dumbfounded.

Brianna and Johnson seemed to realize something, and their expressions turned extremely grim.

Lord John, the Undersecretary of the Book of Documents, was quick-witted and was the first to react. A flash of inspiration struck him, and he quickly scribbled a few lines on the record board.

—"The real Prince Alaye steals secrets from the Holy See while a puppet attends the meeting to cover his tracks."

—"The Wizard's Conversion Was Not Genuine; Alaye Infiltrated the Church of Time Under the Guise of Baptism"

— "Apostasy? Carelessness? The prince, disguised as a nun, with the help of the law-abiding woman Brianna, attends a meeting; the reformer Johnson, knowing it's a lie, takes it seriously and they have a very pleasant conversation."

Looking at the last entry, Lord John the Book of Books hesitated. Although the Pope wouldn't live much longer and the conservatives were bound to rise to power, he should plan for his future as soon as possible.

But now that I'm on the side of the Pope's reformists, isn't it a bit too much to blatantly stab my boss in the back like this?

Just then, John and the others suddenly heard Prince Alaye say something like this.

"My dear Rabbi Johnson, these people need their medicine. Why are you staring at me like that? You've stolen so much divine grace, you must have already secretly ascended to godhood, right? Hurry up and help your good disciple, I don't have the strength to deal with so many people all at once."

Upon hearing this, everyone was shocked.

A thunderbolt struck Lord John the Bookkeeper's mind, and he wrote the final words on the paper: "Johnson is a dark wizard, and Brianna has apostatized."

Before he could finish writing, he saw the entire lobby, centered on Johnson, begin to fade rapidly, spreading to his feet in the blink of an eye.

In an instant, the world before John's eyes turned black and white. His last thought was, 'Johnson is not a dark wizard at all. He is an evil god (fourth level)!' Then he stopped thinking.

—True time and space stand still!

When Roland first arrived in Vermeer and started working at the Summer Palace's buffet, he encountered six mentally ill people in the kitchen.

These six mentally ill people suddenly appeared before Roland like gods, and then Roland, along with half of the Summer Palace, fell into a frozen space-time.

Immediately afterwards, the glamorous older sister among the six stuffed a bunch of medicine into Roland's mouth and checked Roland's tongue to see if he had swallowed it.

Roland's eyesight allowed him to see everything that was happening in that stillness—a certain old man who looked rather annoying even let out a soft "Eh," and deducted a few more points from Roland.

The fact that he was unaffected by the time-stopping effect during his magic clearly indicates that he had been assimilated to the God of Madness to an extremely profound degree.

On this continent, there may be some gods that Johnson, the first dean of the Black Abyss and one of its founders, couldn't handle, but there are really not many people he couldn't handle.

The one who cast the spell on Roland back then was indeed the Mind Flayer. But now, this old man Johnson is even stranger than the Mind Flayer.

This director's twenty-odd years of seclusion in the mental hospital were remarkably successful. He not only unified his other self in another dimension, but also read a great deal of the Old Scriptures, and then, with the help of the Spirit of Heart-Stealing, almost ascended to godhood in one step.

After being discharged from the hospital, this guy obviously reaped a lot of benefits from the Pope and also secretly enjoyed a lot of food all to himself at the Holy See—at least in Roland's opinion, Professor Johnson was definitely not idle.

Now, his thoughts are even closer to the truth. And Roland's holy medicine and the resources of the Papacy are even more complete.

The moment Roland saw him, he knew that this old man was no longer the same as before.

Judging from the fact that he could lock up hundreds of papal elites in the hall with a wave of his hand, if this guy were in a normal era without freaks like the Thousand-Eyed King or Alexandra, he would be the Witch King!

In the blink of an eye—mostly while Johnson was lost in thought—everything within two meters of him in the hall seemed to fade and freeze.

Johnson, Brianna, and Roland, who was sitting next to them, were unaffected, and even Helena, who was sitting in the advisor's seat behind Roland, was frozen in place.

"I knew something was off about that kid today! What's wrong with your judgment?!" Old Johnson complained to Brianna, then turned to Roland beside him: "What trouble have you gotten yourself into now?!"

"do not know."

Roland said with a grim expression, "Let me find out first."

As he spoke, Roland closed his eyes, and then Roland disappeared from the faded area.

Seeing this, Johnson's expression turned somewhat strange. He had initially thought the person beside him was an avatar. But now he understood.

He could vaguely discern some clues, but this kind of method shouldn't be... no, even a normal wizard wouldn't use it!

This is something recorded in the old scriptures. Even if you use it, it won't be like this unless you've gone completely mad (crazy) to a certain degree.

At this moment, Roland opened his eyes and said, "Oh, it's nothing, I just need to talk to you alone. You know, we don't have many opportunities to meet. If we miss this one, who knows how many more days we'll have to wait."

Johnson's vision blurred; he nearly fainted from anger at Roland's reasoning. He exclaimed, "Do you even know where you are?! Do you know how many angels and saints are here?! The Holy See has just as many capable people as the Eastern Territory. Every time I make a move, I risk being exposed!"

"Don't worry, no one can sense this far away."

Roland looked out the window and said, "There are no angels or saints here."

Johnson and Brianna looked out the window, and then their expressions became subtle.

The view outside the window was a vibrant forest, and further on, a beautiful lake.

This is actually the fifth level of the Holy See, which is 36 kilometers away from the first level where the Vatican is located.

It turns out that before Roland teleported here, he had twisted the holy monument, slightly adjusted the structure of the holy seat, and moved this hall here.

Johnson and Brianna were momentarily stunned, because this commotion was clearly much greater than the commotion of 'time standing still'.

Brianna, her face stiff, offered a reassuring reply: "It's alright. No one will come in to check before the talks end, and unlike the Eastern Territory, the Vatican won't be able to detect any alterations to the tower's structure so quickly."

The structure of the Holy See was changed inexplicably last time, and it wasn't until several weeks later that people noticed.

Most of the idiots here don't understand technology; even if someone discovers something later, they can easily fool them.

Johnson said with a grim expression, "But Andorra will be furious."

Roland smiled and reassured him, "No, I specifically asked 'Mario,' and the Pope won't be returning from the Holy City today."

Brianna and Johnson both looked at Roland at the same time, and said with strange expressions, "That Mario?"

Roland said, "It's that old scribe who was on duty at the library today."

Johnson and Brianna's expressions immediately became quite interesting.

Brianna wanted to say something, but after thinking about it, she kept quiet.

If Mario were to communicate with Prince Alaye, the two could have a pure exchange and work together to solve the current critical problem.

But if the Pope were to meet with Prince Alaye, things would become complicated.

Johnson knew far more than Brianna; he knew the truth of the world and also learned Roland's true identity from the King of a Thousand Eyes.

In his view, Roland and the Pope could not meet easily, but they had to meet.

He had been troubled by this matter and was thinking of talking to Roland about it. But to his surprise, the two of them met and unexpectedly reached a very harmonious consensus.

Johnson thought to himself, "The two of them seem to have talked about quite a lot. There used to be a serious chain of suspicion between these two guys."

This chain of suspicion is extremely difficult to break. It makes it so that "a king cannot see another king, for to meet him is to die."

But it must have been a coincidence that led Andorra to first learn of Roland's importance before he learned of his true situation.

Roland should also be able to see the importance of 'Mario'.

The two of them should no longer harbor murderous intent towards each other.

Johnson was unaware that this 'coincidence' was the transmission of the holy monument.

After seeing that beam of light, Mario had a vague feeling that Roland might be able to solve the problem that no one else could.

During their subsequent conversation, he gradually discovered Roland's problems, but he also realized that he seemed to have to do everything in his power to protect him, rather than eliminating Roland as a potential threat in order to prevent the truth of the world from being exposed.

Roland, not knowing who Mario really was, didn't try to harm the old man. He also discovered that the Pope was one of their own.

To put it bluntly, it was this unexpected meeting that allowed the two to bypass the 'chain of suspicion,' otherwise, something bad would definitely have happened.

Johnson thought to himself, 'No wonder this kid knew I ignited the divine fire; it must have been Mario who told him.'

Johnson had no idea that Roland was actually bluffing him.

He assumed that his accomplices had told his good student about the bad things they had done together—in fact, it was 'Mario' who suggested the theft of divine favor to Johnson.

Because during his time in bed feigning illness, if something unexpected happened, someone would be needed to keep things under control.

The Holy Court has four ranks of beings, but most of them are either sleeping or awakened angels or holy children. They all possess extremely devout faith and are utterly loyal to the Kingdom of Heaven.

Therefore, this person can only be someone who is disloyal and impious—preferably a wizard.

In addition, Orbis's research findings on 'Dawn of Light' over the years also require volunteers to act as test subjects to verify the experiments.

Ideally, the test subject should have no faith, to prevent the gods from noticing. Furthermore, without faith, the gods cannot intercept or interfere with the process.

For Johnson, after learning the truth about the world, he realized that time was running out. So he was willing to contribute his remaining energy regardless of the consequences.

Thus, Johnson became one of the first people in history to be truly baptized—a baptism completely different from the baptism given by the gods, because this power did not come from the gods, but from the light of dawn!
Back when the Forbidden Sanctuary was mass-producing troops, a god-tier super soldier could emerge from the 'barracks' in just a few seconds.

The same is true of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Now, ordinary people have also secretly mastered this technology.

Those who are baptized will no longer be subject to any constraints from the Kingdom of Heaven, because they believe in themselves, in the light within themselves, and in that conviction.

Legend has it that the light of dawn is the 'power of will' that can unite all thinking beings in the world. (End of Chapter)