There's a big problem with dreams in this world.

After she finished speaking, she looked at the soldier who had led them there and said, "Soldiers, you don't need to follow me on the way ahead. Could you lend me your sword for a moment?"

"Yes." Upon hearing Lu Qing's words, the soldier hurriedly drew his steel longsword from his waist and handed it to Lu Qing.

"Thank you." Smiling, Lu Qing took the longsword from the soldier and looked at Knight Myron, saying, "You can use that sword, Knight Myron. It will be more useful in your hands."

"Hehe, then I thank Your Highness." Hearing Lu Qing's words, Knight Myron smiled happily. For a knight, nothing is more joyful than obtaining a good weapon, even though this weapon cannot be considered his.

........

In the dark underground space, the Pope and Archbishop Angus of Guiji faced off, with the Pope appearing to be in poor condition.

“You’re quite a handful, Pope Gordon,” Archbishop Angus said, looking at the man before him.

"I can become even more difficult, do you want to try?" the Pope said weakly, leaning against the wall behind him, sweat pouring down his forehead.

“You’re about to die and you’re still so stubborn.” Angus floated not far in front of the Pope and whispered, “Look at yourself now. You’ve only had a hole corroded in your chest and lost some blood, and you’ve become so weak.”

"I'll ask you one more time, Gordon: are you still unwilling to embrace the great void?"

"Heh..." The Pope chuckled coldly, not answering Angus's question: "This isn't like you. Yorick never asks the same question twice... cough cough, cough!"

“How could my clone possibly be the same as me?” Angus said, floating in the air.

"......"

A silence fell between the two. Angus looked at the Pope not far away, subconsciously sending him a constant sense of danger. He had no doubt that if he took another step closer, the old man in front of him, who seemed to be on the verge of death, would launch a fatal attack on him.

But even after racking his brains and controlling the growth of a large amount of flesh and blood to scout around the Pope, he still couldn't find the source of the danger.

And the Pope...

With each breath he took, he could feel the air making a strained sound as it passed through his lungs. The void power covering his spinal cord, which he had been struggling to suppress, was far more troublesome than any curse he had ever heard of.

"Hmm?" Suddenly, Angus sensed something. He looked up, his gaze seemingly passing through the ground of the upper level of the prison, and "saw" the figure wielding a longsword, slicing through the wall of flesh and blood.

"The current strongest knight in the kingdom... Myron Zahad."

Angus sensed the remaining power within his body and silently retreated.

“Number Two, and this… new member, we’re going back.” Angus said to Number Two and Number Five.

“I’m not a new member, I’m number five,” number five said, trying to correct Archbishop Angus.

“…” Angus was silent for a moment, then wriggled his brain and said, “Is Number Five really that weak now?”

"I..." Number Five was speechless for a moment, but dared not say anything in rebuttal. After all, the scene of Angus's battle was still vivid in his mind, and he really dared not offend this Archbishop Guiji.

"Never mind all that, the kingdom's strongest knight is coming. If the two of them fight me, things might get messy," Angus said.

"You can't beat them?" the mouth on number five's cheek suddenly spoke.

"......"

"Snapped!"

Number Five slapped himself hard across the face and quickly explained, "Sometimes my mouth just starts talking on its own. Please forgive me this time, Archbishop."

"It's alright..." The archbishop waved his tentacles and said, "Whether it's Pope Gordon or the kingdom's number one knight, I'm not afraid of fighting them one-on-one."

"If they team up, I can fight them, but newbie, there's one thing you need to remember."

"Never let your guard down against your enemy, nor be overconfident in your own strength, the consequences...."

After a moment of silence, Archbishop Angus said quietly, "Do you know how I've spent the last three hundred years?"

"Sleeping in a coffin every day!"

Number Two and Number Five: "........"

"In short, let's retreat."

Archbishop Angus waved his tentacle, and a path made of flesh and blood, resembling a human intestine, appeared before him. He floated into it.

Seeing this, Number Two and Number Five said nothing more and left the prison with the Archbishop.

------------

Chapter 527: Do you know how I've lived these past three hundred years?!

Chapter 528: He smiled

......

"Tsk, has he left?" After confirming that Archbishop Angus of Guiji had indeed left, the Pope sat down on the ground with some reluctance.

He had prepared a powerful move: as soon as the opponent got close to him, he would detonate the power of the resentful souls within all the wooden masks on his body.

This was a method he imitated after carefully studying how Lu Qing used the Soul of Resentment.

The combined power of these vengeful spirits, when detonated together, has an effect far more complex than simple addition like 1+1=2. Even the person himself is unaware of just how terrifying the effect will be.

However, he also knew that Archbishop Angus could not possibly be hit by his move.

That was a monster, a complete monster. After abandoning his human body, Archbishop Angus had reached unimaginable levels of strength, speed, and mental power. In addition, he possessed a terrifying instinct.

Such an enemy was beyond his ability to defeat; no wonder the Pope three hundred years ago only sealed him away instead of killing him completely.

"Cough cough..." The Pope's vision gradually blurred. He gritted his teeth and wrote a few lines on the ground with his blood.

"Burn my body and the wooden mask together, and remember to use a purification spell."

"No matter what happens, the Sacred Tree Festival must not be interrupted. I entrust it to you... (after a pause, he wrote) My disciple, Lu Qing."

"Don't spread the news of my death, that archbishop... monster... (scribbled handwriting)"

"Feel sorry....."

In his line of sight, Lu Qing's blurry figure rapidly approached, but he could no longer write the last line.

"I've left you with a lot of trouble while I'm still alive..." The Pope moved his lips and said in a barely audible voice. Almost the instant he finished speaking, the Pope's pupils lost focus, and the void power that seemed to be tearing his muscles apart gradually stopped moving and left his body.

"His Holiness the Pope?" Lu Qing stared in disbelief at the corpse before her, her pupils contracting sharply.

"First aid? Yes, I've studied first aid!"

Lu Qing hurriedly examined the Pope's wounds, but soon she was stunned by the large hole corroded by the void.

"How... how can we save this...?" she said urgently.

“There’s no need to save him.” Knight Myron came up behind Lu Qing and slowly sat down, saying, “He’s already dead.”

“Dead…” Lu Qing was silent for a while, then slowly bent down and put her ear above the Pope’s heart.

"..." Silence. There was no sound at all; the silence was frightening.

"Ah..." Lu Qing opened her mouth silently, her Adam's apple bobbing slightly, but she couldn't say anything.

Gently wiping away the tears in her eyes, Lu Qing realized that she simply couldn't treat the Pope like an NPC.

He is a living person, and that is not something that a dream game can determine. Even if he is a created being, he still has a "heart," just like her, and there is no difference between them.

"Almost six months..." Lu Qing chuckled softly, then quietly thanked her, "Thank you for taking care of me during this time, teacher..."

"Ha... Hoo..."

Taking a deep breath, Lu Qing stood up and looked at the message the Pope had left before his death.

"I will do whatever you ask, please rest assured." After reading the blood-written words on the ground, Lu Qing nodded to the Pope.

"Sir Myron, do you have a way to start a fire? I need to burn my teacher's body here," Lu Qing asked, turning to Sir Myron.

In his dying message, the Pope mentioned that his death should not be publicized. Considering what followed, Lu Qing could roughly guess what he meant.

Archbishop Angus was not an enemy they could handle. Even Knight Myron might not be a match for him in a one-on-one fight, let alone protect themselves.

The archbishop was unaware of the severity of the pope's injuries, otherwise he wouldn't have left before their arrival.

Therefore, the news of the Pope's death must be kept secret, and the fewer people who know about it, the better!

“I don’t have anything on me that can start a fire. The fire I ignited on the sword can’t be used to burn the corpse.” Knight Myron shook his head when he heard Lu Qing’s words.

“I do have a flint on me,” said Sir Salo at that moment.

“When we’re on a march, we often camp in the wild. To make it easier to start a fire, I usually carry a flint and steel with me. It’s become a habit of mine.” Knight Salo smiled somewhat awkwardly, but then realized that the atmosphere wasn’t appropriate and quickly stopped smiling.

He couldn't laugh, nor could he cry; he only felt a sense of desolation. This was the state of mind of the Knight of Salo at that moment.

"Thank you very much." Lu Qing took the flint from the knight Salo and expressed her gratitude.

"I'm glad I could help you," Sir Salo said dryly.

"Sigh." With a sigh, Knight Myron grabbed Knight Salo's shoulder and led him outside, saying, "Your Highness, we'll leave this place here. Let's go out first."

"......"

Watching Knight Myron and Knight Salo leave, Lu Qing silently thanked Knight Myron.

Actually, she didn't necessarily want to be alone... but she appreciated Sir Myron's kindness.

After thinking for a moment, Lu Qing took out the "Words of the Rock" and wrote the following in Chinese on a suitable piece of gravel: "Tomb of Pope Matthias Gordon of Honglisam - left by his disciple Lu Qing".

Of course, she wouldn't actually erect a tombstone here. If that Great Cultist of the Return to Silence returned, even if he couldn't understand the words on it, he could probably guess what it was all about, so she wouldn't do that.

After writing this line, Lu Qing knelt down in front of the Pope, intertwined her fingers, closed her eyes, and prayed softly.

A peculiar spiritual energy fluctuation emerged from her body. The lingering aura of the Pope's body and the wooden masks, mixed with the power of resentful souls, dissipated into the air.

[Purification Spell LV10 - Advanced Purification Spell LV1]

Ignoring the contents of the diary, Lu Qing continued to pray for the Pope, using purification magic to remove all negative energy from his body.

After all this was over, Lu Qing used the spider silk spewed by the silvery-gray evening breeze as a kindling agent, wrapped it around the Pope's body, and lit it with a flint and steel.

"boom!!"

A raging fire rose up, its bright light illuminating Lu Qing's face, in which she could almost see the reflection of the Pope standing behind her, waving to her.

Lu Qing seemed to realize something, opened her golden vertical pupils, and turned to look behind her.

The papal spirit standing behind her seemed to notice Lu Qing's gaze, even though it lacked any consciousness...

He smiled.

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