From Alchemy Apprentice to All-Powerful God King

Outside the gambling den, the knights were on high alert, clearing out the alchemy arena and preventing any ability users from entering.

Inside the gambling den, Matthew and Sutton surrounded Harder, their faces grave.

"We've been looking for you for a month, but we never expected you to walk right into our trap."

Sutton looked completely bewildered; he couldn't understand Hader's behavior at all.

It is completely illogical that a madman who had been on the run and hiding for months, spreading rumors everywhere, would suddenly appear and cause a commotion throughout the city.

"Hehe, I'm here to inform you."

"What notification?"

"The ruins are about to open; you should leave the city."

Why are we notifying you?

Hader and Sutton engaged in a question-and-answer session, with no fluff, all of which concerned the ruins of the Angelic Church.

However, when asked about important news, Hader would remain silent and just smile faintly.

"Let me rephrase the question: Why are you spreading news about the ruins everywhere?"

As Sutton finished speaking, Harder's smile widened, and he looked at Matthew with a beaming smile.

"Because they need to choose a successor for the Papacy..."

Upon hearing this, both Sutton and Matthew immediately connected it to a certain identity.

"Are you from the Angelic Church?"

Had shook his head and immediately denied it with a dry laugh: "Hehe, I wish I were, so I could inherit it myself, and it wouldn't be your turn."

Hearing this, Matthew became suspicious again.

"Then why are you helping the Vatican spread information? And how did you know the location and time?"

Matthew's question can be said to have answered the question that most people want to know.

After a moment of silence in the room, Had suddenly looked up and gazed intently at Matthew.

"Because they found me and told me what to do."

"Who?"

"I don't know, but he doesn't look like a normal person. He's very strange, I can't describe it."

"Fragments left behind by the Angelic Church?"

"I'm not sure, but they know the site very well."

The more information Harder revealed, the more puzzled Matthew became.

If those people really were remnants of the Angelic Church, how old would they be, almost a hundred years ago?

This has most likely developed into a new organization and has been active in the surrounding area; otherwise, it would be impossible for them to have such a thorough grasp of this information.

But if this is true, then a new question arises.

Now that it has developed into an organization, there is absolutely no need to spread the news everywhere and attract a large number of people to compete with them for the inheritance. Why not just use our own people to take over the property from back then?

So either that group of people are using this identity to do their jobs, or it's Had in front of us who is lying.

Hader noticed Matthew's distrust and immediately explained.

"I am absolutely not a member of the Angelic Church. They just paid me a lot of money to do things for them."

Sutton listened without saying a word, but his brow remained furrowed.

If everything Hader said is true, then this relic is probably not as simple as it seems.

"Are you still able to contact them?"

Upon hearing this, Had shook his head: "They're the ones who contact me, and they never show up on their own initiative. With the ruins about to open, they've even gone into hiding; we can't find them at all."

"That's why I dared to show myself and come to find you. Otherwise, do you really think I would want to run away from home?"

Had explained with a wry smile that once you're targeted by that group, there's no way to hide. They can tell you exactly where you went, what you did, and even what you ate in a day.

This is also why he dared not show his face to the Knights Guild or the Alchemy Guild.

He feared that if he were arrested, those people would send someone to kill him to keep the secret.

Now, after several days of experimentation, he has confirmed that the other party has completely disappeared and dares not show their face.

It must be because of the people from the Empire.

"Why does it feel like some kind of cult?" Matthew felt a sense of familiarity as he listened to Harder's words.

Isn't this the same tactic his organizations used in his previous life?

They recruit others by recruiting new members and constantly entice others to join them or fulfill their requirements.

No wonder they were wanted and eradicated back then; this kind of thing is universally hated, no matter where it is.

"I've said everything I needed to say. Can your Knights guarantee my safety?"

Hader was dressed like a vagrant, with not a clean spot on his body, and yet he had managed to evade the Knights' pursuit these past few days. Matthew couldn't see anything about him that required protection.

Sutton did not refuse, nodding to reassure him, but before taking him away, he needed to ask a few questions.

"Ask away, I'll tell you everything I know," Hader readily agreed, though his rumbling stomach made him a little embarrassed. "Could you get me something to eat first?"

Soon, Matthew and Sutton learned about the history of the Angelic Church from Hader.

The Angelic Church originated before the Empire. Long before the discovery that one could use magical insects to become a power user, traces of them had already been found all over the continent.

Those people claimed to be angels, sent to help people overcome their suffering and ascend to heaven.

But in reality, it's just an act of spreading their ideology so that these people suffering from hardship can come to believe in them.

Not only that, they also help people gain supernatural abilities to expand their power, but in reality, they feed those who crave power with demonic insects and plant the mark of enslavement in them.

Using these crooked and unethical methods, the Angelic Church rapidly expanded, becoming a powerful and influential force at the time.

The believers constantly provide them with fresh blood, while the enslaved power users gradually have their minds distorted after enjoying the convenience of their abilities.

As long as you achieve merit and expand your territory, you will be rewarded with increased magic power and magical insects.

Under this fanatical ideology, the Angelic Church became one of the most powerful forces, reaping demonic insects and plundering treasures everywhere, with countless people within its sphere of influence worshipping them.

Until someone noticed something was wrong.

But those who are truly clear-headed are always in the minority, and they are suppressed by the Papacy before they can cause any trouble.

As time went on, the tyranny of the Papacy gradually became apparent. Whether it was expanding territory or driving away alien beasts, those with special abilities were always high above, leaving the people at the bottom to do these things.

People gradually realized something was wrong; instead of enjoying the protection of those with superpowers, they had become the protectors of those with superpowers.

As a result, some people began to rebel, dissatisfied with the Church's actions, and demanding that they publish the formula for the magical insects, so that everyone could become a power user, which they believed was the only way for a normal and healthy form of governance.

This resistance lasted for decades.

Until a boy suddenly appeared and opened the Vatican's treasure trove of demonic insects.

A large number of demonic insects flew out and scattered to various places, where they were intercepted and refined by the people, becoming ability users without the mark of enslavement.

Among them, manual laborers make up the majority. These people, who were originally doing hard labor, progressed rapidly after becoming skilled workers.

Led by the boy, they eventually overthrew the tyranny of the Papacy.