Mystery: The Undead Don't Die from Linking the Fire

Feneport City, the headquarters of the Church of the Mother Earth.

A woman in a long white dress, with fair skin, entered the bustling church and strolled through the main prayer hall as if in a leisurely garden, until her path was blocked by a figure in the portico ahead. It was an elderly man with slightly curly black hair, a high nose and deep-set eyes, wearing a brown archbishop's robe.

That was Loreto, the Archbishop of the Church of Mother Earth.

He stood by the window, blocking most of the sunlight streaming in from outside.

The old man bowed respectfully according to the rituals of the Earth Church and said:

Good day, Lady Priscilla.

Priscilla looked at the old man blocking her way and said softly:

"I want to see Roland."

Archbishop Loreto responded with a smile:

"Your Majesty, the Mistress has been waiting for a long time. Please come with me."

Without pausing, the two made their way to the back of the church and entered a quiet reading room.

Inside the reading room, a green-haired woman with shoulder-length hair sat at a table, holding a sacred text from the Church of the Earth Mother, carefully choosing her words.

"Madam, Lady Priscilla has come to visit."

Loreto stopped a short distance from the green-haired woman and said respectfully.

The internal systems of the major churches are largely the same, but there are significant differences in the titles of the Triple Crowned Ones.

In the Church of Storms, the triple crowned one is the Pope;

In the Church of the Night, the triple crowned one is the Pope;

In the Church of the God of War, the Triple Crowned One is the Grand Patriarch;

In the Steam Church, influenced by Emperor Roselle, the Triple Crowned One has been renamed the Great Sage.

The reason why the triple crowned one is called the "Great Sage" is not only because of Emperor Roselle's perverse sense of humor, but also because, to some extent, it is a theft of the symbol of the "Hidden Sage".

In the Church of the Earth Mother, the Triple Crowned One is usually referred to as the Apostolic.

Within the church, believers usually refer to her as Madam Roland.

The woman with long green hair slightly raised her head. Her gaze met Loreto, who was standing respectfully not far away, and then quickly passed over Loreto, landing on Priscilla, who was dressed in a white dress and looked like an ice fairy.

"Good day, Lady Priscilla," He greeted with a smile.

Loreto respectfully stepped back as he left the reading room, thoughtfully closing the door behind him as he went.

Priscilla walked over to the green-haired woman, pulled out a chair, and sat down.

Priscilla glanced at the holy book in His hand and suddenly asked:

"How long has it been since you received a divine message from the Earth Mother?"

Roland closed the holy book and said calmly:

"The revelation of the Mother Goddess is in Her holy scriptures, in those doctrines; anything else is heresy."

"You'd better really think so," Priscilla said softly, her words seemingly carrying a hidden meaning.

Roland was not offended by Priscilla's offense; he simply smiled at her.

Priscilla didn't say much, but simply placed a holy book on the table and pushed it toward Roland.

"A fool?"

Roland looked at the book, whose cover read "The Words of the Fool," with a look of surprise and confusion in his eyes.

Priscilla explained succinctly:

"Using this book, The Book of the Word, as a blueprint, we will rewrite the creation myth in The Holy Scripture of the Earth Mother."

She paused, then added:

"This is the oracle of the Mother Goddess."

Roland's eyes flickered slightly as he opened the book "The Fool's Sayings," looking at the section on "The Creation of the World by the First Flame," and murmured softly:

"Is it related to creation myths?"

The oracle wasn't particularly difficult; it merely replaced the Creator with the Primordial Flame, and wouldn't significantly impact the faith of the Church of the Earth Mother. The only problem might be that Roland himself didn't receive the Mother Goddess's oracle…

Roland's expression shifted slightly, as if he had realized something.

If this had happened in another church, people might have suspected Priscilla of falsely proclaiming divine pronouncements. But in the Church of the Earth Mother, it seems perfectly reasonable.

Because within the Church of the Earth Mother, there is a taboo that is not exactly a secret:

Whether they are clergy or believers in Mother Earth, anyone who claims to have received divine revelation has been tempted by the devil; there are no exceptions.

The official explanation is that there are many evil beings in this world who impersonate gods, bewitch clergy, and deceive believers.

Because the two main paths of the Church of Mother Earth are related to life, it is more severely affected than other churches. People from time to time go astray, try forbidden life experiments, and gradually fall into depravity.

To curb this trend, the Church of Mother Earth Goddess, under the guidance of the Mother Goddess's will, reorganized the church very early on, establishing two major systems: those with divine grace and those favored by God.

Those favored by Goddess are clergy who receive her grace through the means of the Earth and the Moon, while those blessed by Goddess are those favored by her from external sources. The latter are less influenced by demons and evil spirits and can help the former discern the truth of divine pronouncements.

Under such circumstances, even a decree issued by the Papacy must be countersigned by at least one of the chosen ones, otherwise it can be considered invalid.

Conversely, if the decree of the Mother Goddess is proclaimed by those favored by the gods, it can be issued without even the consent of the Apostolic Deity. And if the Apostolic Deity receives a completely different oracle from the Mother Goddess, the oracle received by those favored by the gods will prevail, and the Apostolic Deity himself will be suspected of being corrupted by an evil god.

Therefore, Apostolic Roland had almost no doubts about the "oracle" given to him by Priscilla, the "chosen one".

Roland closed the book, *The Sayings of the Fool*, and solemnly said:

"I will give the order, and all the existing holy books should be replaced within a month."

Priscilla shook her head slightly upon hearing this, and under Roland's questioning gaze, said softly:

"The compilation work can begin immediately, but the replacement can wait until after the war."

Roland reminded him:

"It may take a long time for the war to end."

"It won't be long," Priscilla said calmly.

Roland remained silent. Perhaps this was also a divine message from the Mother Goddess, but unfortunately, she had not received it.

"Okay." Roland nodded silently.

"There's one more thing."

Priscilla whispered:

"I have a friend from the Kingdom of Rune who needs a shipment of grain."

Upon hearing the words "Kingdom of Rune," Roland's expression remained unchanged, and he nodded slightly.

"Okay, Loreto will be in charge of this."

The Kingdom of Feneport and the Kingdom of Rune were at war, and selling any supplies to the Kingdom of Rune at this time would be considered an act of treason, but for Roland, these things were meaningless.

Because He is an angel, the apostle of the Church of the Earth Mother Goddess.

-

Inside a luxurious villa in Fenneport, Audrey blinked:

"Is this all you need?"

Carula asked with a smile:

"How much trouble do you think it could be?"

"Um."

Audrey remained silent. With the abilities of an angel, obtaining some food would be very easy, even for someone as demigod as her.

However, Priscilla went to talk to the apostolic leader of the Church of the Earth Mother herself!

Did the apostle simply compromise? Or did they reach some kind of secret agreement?

Is all this really just for some food?

Audrey immediately dismissed the thought that popped into her head; this matter was definitely not as simple as it seemed!

It's quite possible that Priscilla already had connections with the Church of the Earth Mother, and the food she requested was perhaps just a bonus. The matter Priscilla discussed with the Church of the Earth Mother was probably related to Karula—she should have realized it sooner. Although Karula was usually quite free, the angel wasn't so free that she would specifically accompany her to Feneport.

Ultimately, purchasing food was merely a personal act, a way to satisfy her own moral needs. For Carla and Priscilla, who had lived long enough, the morals she upheld might be utterly unimportant. If that's the case, why did Carla even bother accompanying her to Feneport?

There is no doubt that Karula came here for her own purposes, and helping him was just a side effect.

But when did the Church of the Earth Mother establish contact with them? And did the Church of War, an ally of the Church of the Earth Mother, know about this?

The situation became increasingly confusing, and Audrey's mood grew heavier.

Because she suddenly realized that the judgments she made based on her own understanding were likely all wrong!

-

Backlund, West End, inside the Audra family villa.

Emlyn White stepped down from his carriage, glanced at the sun obscured by clouds and mist, and put on his top hat.

On his way to the villa, he subtly turned the ring on his left hand, as if to proclaim his status.

The ring was translucent, seemingly made of pale red amber, with a blood-red gemstone set at its tip.

It was Emlyn's reward from long ago: "Lilith's Ring".

It is a ring made by the ancestor himself in ancient times. Although it does not contain divinity, it has very powerful and magical abilities.

After becoming a demigod, Emlyn was able to suppress the "blood thirst" associated with the ring to a certain extent. He only needed to drink human blood from three blood collection vials every day to avoid the corresponding negative effects. Therefore, in order to reflect his special status as a favored one of the progenitors, he began to wear the ring for a long time.

Emlyn strode through the gate, head held high, toward the owner of the house, Cassim Odra, a middle-aged gentleman, a vampire viscount who had recently been promoted.

For vampires whose average lifespan exceeds five hundred years, Kasimi, who is only two hundred years old and already a viscount, is a young talent, especially since his grandfather is Earl Nibais.

Considering that Count Nibais is already old, perhaps in another two or three hundred years, he will have the opportunity to inherit Count Nibais's extraordinary position.

However, that would be hundreds of years from now.

And now...

Kasim looked at Emlyn, who walked up to him with an arrogant air, lowered his head with a complicated expression, and said in a low voice:

"Good day, Your Excellency."

Emlyn looked ahead and nodded almost imperceptibly:

"I'm going to see Lord Olmer."

Hearing the blunt order, Kasimi controlled his facial expression, which became increasingly complicated.

He was already a viscount at over two hundred years old, a true prodigy among vampires, while Emlyn was only in his forties, yet he was already an earl! A being on par with his grandfather, and with at least a thousand more years to live.

It is foreseeable that for the next thousand years, I will have to respectfully call him Earl every time we meet!

Thinking of this, Kasimi, who had once looked down on Emlin, found his expression becoming slightly uncontrollable.

Kasimmi struggled to suppress his emotions and led the way for Emlin, descending the stairs to the underground area.

During this journey, Emlyn had already taken off his top hat.

Kasim noticed this detail, his expression still complex.

Emlyn maintained the proper respect before the Duke, but only towards the Duke. If he were meeting his own grandfather, he probably wouldn't have been so polite.

After passing through a series of secret doors, Emlyn and Kasimmi finally arrived at a large, iron-gray hall.

Kasimi glanced at the vibrant tomb in the distance, then respectfully withdrew from the hall.

Only Emlyn remained.

"Your Majesty the Duke."

Emlyn faced the tomb, respectfully offering the "holy scripture" in his hand, and said:

"This is the 'Fool's Sayings' that Mr. 'Fool' ordered to be compiled. Please take a look."

As soon as he finished speaking, the book "The Fool's Sayings" flew automatically to the grave, disappeared into the soil, and vanished without a trace.

After a long while, the Duke of Olmer's slightly wistful voice came from the tomb:

"You did a great job. I have a task for you."

"What mission?"

Emlyn's expression immediately turned serious.

Olmer's deep, resonant voice echoed from the grave:

"Based on the creation myth in this book, 'The Fool's Sayings,' we will compile a timeline for our tribe."

"what?"

Emlyn was stunned for a while, looking somewhat embarrassed.

For a count like him to do something like this is rather...

Duke Olmer, the vampire, slowly spoke from his tomb:

"This is the ancestor's command."

"The progenitor?!"

Emlyn's expression immediately turned serious, and he said without hesitation:

"Your Grace, please rest assured, it is my duty and I cannot shirk it."

"very good."

Olmer chuckled:

"Isn't this too difficult? The clan has already compiled a rough outline of the timeline, with only the part about creation needing to be perfected. And what you need to compile is only this part. You can even directly copy the contents of the 'Sacred Words,' but there is a prerequisite: you must clarify the special status of the vampires within it."

"In addition, the vampires who entered the dream world with you can provide you with assistance."

"The special status of vampires?"

Emlyn's expression was somewhat subtle. The simplest way to achieve this was to find a sufficiently noble 'ancestor' for the vampires.

However, the noble races recorded in the creation history of the primordial fire were nothing more than the gods and the witches.

But the question is, how do you connect them with vampires?