This isn't a souls-like game at all.

He bent down deeply, and let out sounds of struggle and pain.

"Please! Your Excellency, please!"

The knights behind him also bowed deeply.

The entire Church of the Holy Blood was silent.

Ye Yiyi widened her eyes slightly. That tall and thin man was the bishop?

No wonder we can’t find anyone up there. It turns out they’re being skinned alive down there.

As for the knights' pleading, he shook his head speechlessly.

His daughter was innocent, but he was definitely not.

Anyone who can penetrate the secret Holy Blood Church and even become a candidate for the Holy Blood Knights must have had their loyalty tested by the order.

But Ye Yiyi had already experienced the character of the members of the Holy Blood Sect in the factory outside.

These knights resisted the divine operation simply because they didn't want to die.

The bishop looked deeply at the knight, then looked around at the Holy Blood priests who were watching, and sighed deeply.

“I know the risks of divine intervention surgery, so the cult will never force anyone to undergo it.

"I understand your reluctance. But I suppose you are aware of the assassination of Grand Duke Ritter, right?"

Of course he knew about this, but he didn't understand why the bishop suddenly brought it up.

The knight hesitated, then nodded.

"The assassination was just an excuse. In fact, the Archduke was not assassinated."

The bishop said quietly, "The actual situation is that two hunters from the Hunting God Church discovered the existence of the deity and obtained sufficient evidence."

Amid the shocked gazes of many knights and priests, the bishop shook his head helplessly.

"The Order has captured one hunter, but another is still at large.

"This hunter is incredibly cunning. If he escapes the capital and presents the evidence to the Church of the Hunting God, the Principality of Garte and the Holy Blood Cult will suffer a devastating blow from the Church of the Hunting God!

"When that happens, not only will the cult be uprooted, but you will also be hanged after the trial."

The archbishop said coldly, "This includes your family members!"

"What!!"

The knight's eyes widened, his face full of disbelief.

The same thing happened to the knights behind him, and the Holy Blood priests in the corridor outside were arguing even more.

Before this, they didn't know about this!

"The Hunting God Church is extremely cruel. They have even slaughtered nations and exterminated clans in order to hunt down gods."

The bishop began to lie while Ye Yiyi rolled his eyes.

"By becoming a Blood Knight, at least you will have the power to protect your family.

"If you retreat here, you will just have to watch as cruel hunters hang your family members one by one."

The bishop took one last look at the lost knight, then turned and walked out of the corridor.

"Whether you want to become a Holy Blood Knight is up to you."

"..."

The knights looked at each other and hesitated.

As the bishop walked along, the priests made way for him.

He walked through the crowd, led the Blood Knight up the stairs, and disappeared around the corner.

The priests looked at each other, shook their heads and made no secret of their contempt and disdain for the knight, then dispersed and went about their own business.

In their opinion, these knights were simply ungrateful!

Undergoing divine intervention surgery and becoming a noble Holy Blood Knight dedicated to the Order is a noble treatment that they cannot enjoy as priests.

If it weren't for the fact that a strong body was a prerequisite for becoming a Holy Blood Knight, they wouldn't have given such a good opportunity to the knights.

Of course, what they were more concerned about at this moment was what the bishop said later.

How can we survive the confrontation with the Church of the Hunting God?

Ye Yiyi watched all this quietly.

After glancing at the dazed knights in the corridor, he shifted his gaze towards the stairs.

Just now, the bishop returned to the upper level with a Holy Blood Knight. Maybe this is a good opportunity for assassination.

He walked towards the stairs and headed upwards.

After reaching the upper level, he saw the Holy Blood Knight standing outside the double doors at the end, but the bishop was nowhere to be found.

"He's the only one in the room. This is a great opportunity!"

Ye Yiyi held the hymn book in her hands, her expression normal as she slowly walked towards the double doors.

The Holy Blood Knight moved his head slightly and glanced at the person who came.

Ye Yiyi nodded to the knight and then knocked on the door.

"Boom boom boom!"

A moment later, the bishop's voice came from behind the door.

"Please come in."

The Holy Blood Knight pushed the door open, but had no intention of going in.

"This group of people really have no sense of crisis at all." Ye Yiyi shook his head in his heart.

But it makes sense. Apart from taking the elevator, it is simply impossible to find this place through the complicated pipes or even blend in.

In their perception, the church is safe and there is no possibility of intruders.

Lax security is also extremely normal.

"Thank you."

The polite Pilgrim Blood Knight thanked him, and Ye Yiyi stepped into the gate, which then closed.

Behind the door is an extremely spacious office.

Ye Yiyi looked around and found that there were no windows here. The walls and ceiling were made of a self-luminous material, very similar to the walls of the Weapons Museum.

In the corner of the room, there are bookcases and various strange-shaped metal instruments built against the wall.

There was a door on the right side of the room, which was ajar, and a warm light shone through it.

Not finding the Holy Blood Knight in the room, Ye Yiyi breathed a sigh of relief.

And in the center of the room, behind a spacious metal desk, the Bishop was sitting there.

"Young priest, what do you want from me?"

He wore a monocle and held a book in his hand. His face looked tired but gentle, with a hint of kindness.

He seemed like two different people from the bishop who had just scolded the knight.

'He didn't know me, but he wasn't surprised.' Ye Yiyi thought, 'It seems that even the bishop doesn't necessarily know all the priests in the order.'

"Your Excellency the Bishop, I have a question for you." Ye Yiyi first performed the etiquette of the church, and then asked with some anticipation.

"Can a priest like me become a Holy Blood Knight?"

"Oh?" The bishop sat up straight, looking interested.

"You also want to become a Holy Blood Knight?"

"Yes, I also want to contribute to the cult." Ye Yiyi pretended to be sincere and said sincerely.

"I appreciate your desire to contribute to the Order, but I do not recommend that you become a Holy Blood Knight."

The bishop gave Ye Yiyi a gratified smile and spoke softly.

"The Blood Knights' divine descent surgery has serious drawbacks. I won't hide it from you. The Blood Knights you see now are actually failures!"

"?"

A failure?

Ye Yiyi became interested and suppressed his murderous intent for the time being, preparing to chat with the bishop to see if he could get some information.

"Your Excellency, what does failure mean?" He pretended to be surprised.

"That's because, if you want to use divine power correctly, relying solely on crude surgical modifications won't work."

"Ritual is the correct way to use divine power."

Chapter 77: Artificial Gods and Three Elite Boss Battles

"Ceremony?" Ye Yiyi seemed to be thinking about something.

This was not the first time he had seen this word.

The descent ceremony, the ascension ceremony, and the three elements are all closely related to the ritual.

"The power of gods comes from faith," the bishop explained. "For gods, faith is like bread and water, the essential food that sustains life.

"But for humans, faith is just an abstract thing. It has no substance. It can even be said that faith does not actually exist."

He seemed to be in a good mood and told Ye Yiyi to sit down, and even poured him a cup of black tea with his own hands.

Black tea is ok...

A bunch of nonsense popped up in Ye Yiyi's mind. He picked up the teacup and took a sip. Not seeing the poison bar increase, he continued to taste it with confidence.

In terms of taste, he is like a cow chewing a peony, but he just drinks it as milk tea.

It tastes a bit sweet, probably because of the sugar.

Sugar is a good thing. Ye Yiyi looked thoughtful. After he kills the bishop, he will definitely search this office thoroughly.

"If faith doesn't exist, then the divine power that is transformed from faith can also be said to not exist."

The bishop took a sip of his red tea and continued to explain.

"Of course, this non-existence is for humans.

"Pure divine power has no substance and can only exist with the help of something. Do you know what that is?"

He smiled, as if he wanted to test Ye Yiyi.

"It's a blood bead." Ye Yiyi answered without hesitation.

"That's right," the bishop said with a smile. "In this way, a divine power with a physical form is born. Do you understand what I mean?"

Ye Yiyi's eyes widened slightly.

"Your Excellency, are you saying that bloodthirstiness is a ritual?"

"Yes and no, but you are very smart and you understand it immediately."

The bishop praised: “Hemophilia itself is not a disease, but a divine contamination of the gods.

“Divinity is the essence of a deity and the source of its existence—this is the result of the Archbishop’s research on the Lord of Holy Blood.

"A human suffering from hemophilia is equivalent to gaining the divinity of sacred blood. In other words, every hemophiliac is a demigod."

"what?"

"But humans are not born gods after all." The archbishop shook his head in disappointment.

"As mentioned before, faith is the food that humans provide to the gods. Young priest, have you ever thought about who humans will provide their faith to when they become demigods?"

"...provide it to yourself?" Ye Yiyi was a little confused.

"Indeed, the divine nature transformed humanity's fear of bloodthirstiness into divine power. However, this process consumes different things depending on the divine nature. For bloodthirsty patients, what is consumed is their consciousness and life."

"fear?"

“Fear is also faith, or rather, faith is the product of fear.”

He pointed to the hymn book in Ye Yiyi's arms and said, "This hymn book that praises the sacred blood mentioned that the Holy Blood Cult originated from a medical organization that wanted to eradicate hemophilia.