My dear witch, please turn evil according to the script!

Chapter 472 The Pope: We can't laugh yet.

Roland took a big bite of the freshly grilled hot dog. In fact, he hadn't eaten for a long time. It was the first time he had ever eaten hot food.

Although he realized at some point that he no longer needed to eat, he ate more to relieve his anxiety.

When the high-calorie sweet and sour sauce and the fried and baked sausage burst in his mouth, Roland's anxious mood was greatly relieved.

At least until the chewing in my mouth stopped, those irritating feelings did not return.

Snow was still falling outside the window, and the fully armed demon royal army was assembling in an orderly manner.

War is about to begin.

Before the situation escalates, a decapitation strike is inevitable.

Even though the situation seems completely under control now, the delay will only benefit the forces of the evil god.

Not to mention that the Vatican's pursuit was not entirely successful, and the core bishops and the two leaders were still nowhere to be found.

Considering that the sacrifice of three bishops would be enough to trigger a situation similar to the Heria Incident, they could not relax their guard in the slightest, otherwise it would inevitably cause unimaginable disasters in the human stronghold behind the lines.

The disruption of communication and transportation has a far greater impact on the human world today than people imagine.

The rapid advancements in magical technology over the past thirty years, along with its extensive applications in both civilian and military fields, have made it difficult for the empire's administrative structure to return to its former state.

The same level of convenience it brought in the past will have the same impact now.

Even though the elites of the Holy See have begun to assist the Empire and the Elves in strengthening the security and protection of their core territories.

But there is no such thing as guarding against thieves for a thousand days.

However, he had to be absent from this beheading.

Roland put down the hot dog in his hand, got up and walked to the window, pushed open a corner of the window, and let the cold wind outside blow in.

From his perspective, at least, he didn't want his friends or lovers to be in danger.

Even if he had no choice, he hoped to be at the forefront.

If it were in the past, if it were someone who hadn't experienced a trip to the underworld, he would definitely have prioritized the tasks and tackled them separately.

but now……

Roland swallowed the rest of the hot dog in one gulp, wiped his mouth, and let the northern wind and snow slap against his face.

He then turned to look at Cecilia inside the room.

This treasure vault master of Avalon, through his unparalleled mastery and power of spatial magic, easily opened a portal to welcome him to Dragon Island.

Yes, it's Dragon Island.

She will represent the will of the Three Wise Kings of the Elves and travel with Roland to Dragon Island to meet the mysterious Dragon God.

This is what he had to do.

An invitation.

A meeting to obtain the "key".

"Ah, are we finally ready? Can we set off now?"

"I really wanted to say wait a little longer, but unfortunately you couldn't wait any longer, could you?"

As Roland spoke, four special primordial runes appeared before him.

A burning golden tree, rotting golden apples, a runestone inscribed with a crumbling crown, and a throne inscribed with a half-submerged black river.

The King's Crown has now disappeared from Roland's inventory.

The description of the World Tree Runestone has also changed.

The cage of confinement is also a barrier for all things; when the barrier shatters, where will fate lead?

When Roland finally touched the web of fate between himself and the stars, he followed his intuition, wielded the shattered dawn, cut the tangled threads, and completely abandoned the remnants of the King of Men. Two new runes appeared in his palm.

A crumbling crown, a somber throne...

The narrative poem, which I had only seen once before, seemed to finally reveal its true meaning at this moment.

[Tree shadows burn, golden fruit rots, horns rust...]

The crown crumbles, the throne sinks, and this is the end.

Now, all that's left is the final, rusted horn.

Without a doubt, what this rusted horn points to is quite obvious.

Now, he must retrieve this last key.

Then open that peculiar stone slab.

Celia smiled and said, "I don't mind waiting a little longer, since you don't seem ready yet."

"I am also aware of some of the plans of those big shots at the top."

"I've also had a few exchanges with Lord World Tree." "So, to some extent... I know a little about your essence."

"Relax, it's just taking back something that was once yours, a part of yourself. There's no need to be so nervous."

Roland shook his head: "I'm just thinking about the difference between who I am now and who I used to be."

"Or rather, it's the difference between the person you in this world perceive me as I was in the past and the person I am now."

Celia smiled. Her long lifespan had given her a wealth of knowledge, as well as an intuition to see into people's hearts.

"I see, you're afraid you'll stop being yourself?"

"But in my opinion, this is just unnecessary worry."

As she spoke, Celia opened a portal.

Unlike the Demon King's spatial teleportation that used massive force to fly through space, the portal Cecilia opened was clearly more skillful.

"Let's go see that dragon god. You may not have seen Isfar in its current state yet, so don't be surprised when you see it."

……

……

Shell Bay, in the southwestern border of the Hearst Empire.

As one of the few coastal areas in the empire that has not undergone large-scale development, this place naturally has its own unique characteristics.

The dense forests and high concentration of magic power have resulted in a large number of monsters here, including many high-level ones.

Even legendary powerhouses need to be careful when they come here, otherwise they may die in a relentless battle against multiple monsters.

Of course, although large-scale development has not been carried out due to the large number of monsters, small towns and magic train lines still exist.

After bypassing the core area of ​​the forest and clearing out the monsters on the outskirts, a noble territory and three towns were established along the railway line.

These are also the only four cities in the southwest corner of the empire.

Meanwhile, the papacy's pursuit team, led by the pope, had already entered the four southwestern corners completely shrouded in mist.

Yes, this place has been completely swallowed up.

There were no survivors, and no rescue whatsoever.

This was a decision made by Salah III.

This means abandoning rescue efforts for small towns in border regions that have lost contact with the outside world.

Even if there is a railway line connecting there, it's the same.

At least at this critical juncture, in the old emperor's eyes, territory and human lives were both weights that could be weighed on a scale.

Even the Papacy had no intention of raising any objection to the Empire's actions.

All they could do was guide the lingering souls of the dead into the land of the dead.

Through the fog, the Pope looked at Cardinal Clark beside him and asked, "Is the tracking signal reliable?"

“Not necessarily,” Clark said frankly. “If those insects were so easy to catch, they would have been wiped out long ago.”

The Pope smiled and stroked his beard: "So what we're doing now is turning the tables on them?"

“That’s right. Just like that joint operation during the Demon King War, we deliberately walked into their trap and then took them out,” Clark replied.

The Pope still wore a faint smile: "Then how can you be so sure they'll fall for it again?"

"You should know that those who survived the last trap are still leading that group of heretics."

"Don't be so reckless just because we have the advantage in combat power."

"Don't forget, they still have their last trump card to flip the table."

As he spoke, the Pope looked around at the mist that had just been dispelled by the blessings of the gods and disappeared under the operation of the stabilizer.

“We cannot give them any chance to perform the ritual. We cannot allow them to tear open another gap and guide the power of the evil god into this world.”

"That's why we were willing to step into the trap they set."

"Wait two more hours until our helpers arrive before we take action."

At this point, an barely suppressed smile appeared on the Pope's face, which he seemed to be making a great effort to keep in check: "I'm looking forward to seeing the expressions on those guys' faces."

"Pass down the order: each of the four saints shall lead a squad of high-ranking paladins toward the other three towns."

"Let them remember that a symbolic search is enough, as long as we make sure that the heretical aura of the evil god doesn't move towards the northwest."

"The rest of you, rest where you are, and at the same time, gather your strength and pray to the gods one last time."

"It's time to completely eliminate the evil god's minions."

(End of this chapter)