I impersonated God in America

Yes.

If the other party is a prophet from thousands of years ago, wouldn't he know the inside story of why there are no supernatural powers in modern times?

Her voice suddenly stopped inside the bottle.

“I know what you want to know, and I don’t mind telling you, but I need a promise.”

"Excuse me, what would you like to do...?"

"When the angels descend."

Bishop Paul's eyebrow twitched.

She said "when the angels descend," which is a definitive statement.

The meaning behind this sentence structure is quite subtle.

"I beg the angels to kill me."

The entire side tunnel fell silent instantly, with only the sound of dripping water remaining.

“Immortality is a promise to you, but to me it is a punishment that has been in effect for thousands of years and has not been taken back. Only a god-level being can lift this curse.”

【Angel……】

At that moment, no one in the side tunnel dared to move.

Bishop Paul slowly made the sign of the cross on his chest.

Wow, they even have senior experience!

This is a huge matter; he simply cannot make the decision.

“Mrs. Sybil, I will certainly relay your message to Rome, but I cannot guarantee it…”

“I know.” The voice in the bottle suddenly softened. “I’ve only waited two thousand years. There’s no rush.”

Then her tone returned to its usual indifferent tone.

"However, if you want to take me away now, it won't be that easy."

"That stone snake?"

"Yes, it's called Basilisk."

"This word means basilisk king, a forbidden creation made by Voldemort using Medusa's power."

【Boldaimon?】

The young priest behind Bishop Paul unconsciously wrote the two names in his notebook, the pen tip poking the paper.

[Bolos throwing + Daimon spirit?]

[Spirit Thrower]

Having spoken good Greek, he understood the meaning of the title.

"He comes from the Caldera Academy."

"There is no record of this name in any documents."

"Of course not, it was erased from the map on the day of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD."

"Before that, they specifically took in students rejected by the temple system to study the magic passed down by the goddess Hecate. What they taught was completely different from the knowledge of the Parthenon's priests."

Bishop Paul understood who he was referring to. Legend has it that Hecate was the goddess of roads, gates, the underworld, night, ghosts, and magic in ancient Greek mythology, symbolizing the dark side of the world and the randomness of fate. It was not surprising that the academy worshipped Hecate, the goddess who represented magic.

"Voldemort was the smartest student in his class, but unfortunately his obsession with immortality was too deep."

“He dug me out of the ruins of Kumai and brought me to the Circe Academy. He wanted me to use my prophecy to help him find the remnants of Medusa’s power, including the Gorgon Stone you just saw in the main room.”

"His only goal was to try to achieve immortality."

"But immortality is a taboo. Even Asclepius, the son of Apollo and the god of medicine, who created the elixir of immortality, was killed by Zeus's thunderbolt."

"According to records, the God of Medicine obtained Medusa's blood. The blood on Medusa's left side is a deadly poison, while the blood on her right side is a miraculous elixir of life. Voldemort collected Medusa's power to create the Basilisk, probably for this purpose. However, he later discovered that it was ineffective, so he resorted to using it as a guard."

"As for why the basilisk chose to be near the stone slab, it is also due to its bloodline origin."

Bishop Paul understood.

This is the origin of the monster outside.

But at this moment he was more concerned about Voldemort's fate.

"And what about Voldemort? I mean, did he really achieve immortality?"

The voice inside the bottle paused for a moment, as if summarizing its words.

"It doesn't really matter. All I know is that he was planning to cut his soul in two, and nobody knows what will happen to him."

Bishop Paul listened to the whole thing.

The origin of the stone snake, and Voldemort's fate.

It took him several seconds to switch the rosary from his left hand to his right.

How to kill the basilisk?

“A treasure with divine attributes.” Sybil’s voice seemed to suddenly come close to the bottle opening. “So divine that it has already left a physical imprint on tangible matter.”

Bishop Paul did not speak.

"Your Majesty Bishop..."

Paul had already pressed the number on the satellite phone.

There is a clear superior-subordinate relationship between the archbishop and the pope.

Although archbishops are high-ranking clergy, they cannot contact the pope "privately" or casually like ordinary people.

All communication, requests for instructions, and reports must be conducted through official channels of the Vatican, apostolic ambassadors, or specific liturgical procedures in order to maintain the order and universal unity of the Church. However, serious violations, crises, or other serious problems can be reported directly.

At least Bishop Paul has this access.

“Your Holiness, you may not believe it, but we found the ancient Greek prophet Sibyl in the ruins and learned a great deal of information about the supernatural.”

"Yes, the origin of the stone slab outside is also clear now. It is said to be a medium containing Medusa's power."

"According to the prophet, the stone serpent chose to protect the stone tablet first because its bloodline comes from the stone tablet."

“That’s right. According to my analysis, the most valuable item in the ruins for us is indeed the Sibyl Bottle.”

"Therefore, I suggest that His Holiness the Pope make our covert departure his top priority."

"Now it's time for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to step in."

Chapter Twenty-One: I knew the church wasn't simple.

Rome, Ministry of Defense Crisis Command Center, 2 a.m.

General Kavali flipped the phone back onto the landline, his finger hovering over the receiver for a few seconds.

His adjutant stood across the desk, holding a freshly printed damage assessment of Sardinia.

The third batch of assault teams were fully equipped and ready to go. The heavy nets were replaced with engineering steel cables, and the anti-tank missiles were replaced with riot shields, but everyone knew in their hearts that this was not a problem with the equipment.

The problem is that stone snake on the other side; nobody knows what it is.

The information gap is too large.

"Sir," his adjutant handed him an encrypted landline from the corner of the table, "it's the Apostolic Secretariat."

Kavali took the phone.

He recognized the voice on the other end of the phone after the call connected.

That was Cardinal Maldini, an old bishop who had been in charge of foreign affairs in the Papal States for over fifteen years, and he had dealt with him quite often.

"General Kavali, is there a problem with your contact with the church?"

“Your Excellency, let’s speak frankly.”

"You should know the origin of the snake that turned the Italian soldier to stone."

In fact, Cavalli didn't hold out much hope at this point either.

But it's never a bad thing to ask.

There was silence for a few seconds on the other end of the phone.

"You really want to know?"

Kavali was stunned.

Could this old guy actually have some good stuff?

"The serpent's official Latin name in the church archives is Basilisque, meaning basilisk king. It is a forbidden creation from the first century AD."

"The reason for its creation was to protect the medium on the altar that contained the power of Medusa."

"Oh, right, the archives about the medium refer to it as the Stone of Gorgon."

【file?!】

[Old things really do have their merits!]

Cavalli's knuckles tightened unconsciously as he gripped the receiver.

His staff spent an entire day and night analyzing the snake.

In the end, nothing happened.

The Papal States revealed everything to it in a single phone call.

They even know the hidden secrets?

I knew these charlatans had information.

Damn it! They've been waiting for us to come looking for them!

Cardinal Maldini: What a coincidence, I just found out too.

“Your Excellency,” Cavalli lowered his voice, “does the Papal States have any records of such creatures?”

“The Church has a lot of records,” Cardinal Maldini said calmly. “It’s just that some of the information is too old, and we can’t be sure of its accuracy until we saw the snake, which confirmed the accuracy of the information.”

This is a lie.

In fact, this information was relayed to Rome by Bishop Paul just hours earlier.

But that didn't stop him from continuing.

The rule of papal diplomacy has always been to address what others lack most in the most reliable way.

"Do you have any way to snatch that stone slab from the stone snake's hands?"

“General, the Church can indeed provide intervention methods to eliminate the basilisk and obtain the stone tablets.” Maldini paused for a moment. “Before discussing specific plans, there is one thing that needs to be confirmed first.”

"What."

"The Stone of Gorgon is a religious relic directly related to the power of the underworld. The Papal States do not interfere with Italy's military jurisdiction over Sardinia, but after the stone tablet was successfully brought out of the cave, the Papacy requested that it be included in the negotiations."

"You shouldn't stop there, so state your conditions."

Maldini flipped through a piece of paper.

"After the removal of the Gorgon Stone, the Papal States will have the right to custody and authentication of 50 percent of any artifacts of extraordinary nature that are excavated in the Sardinian caves and surrounding areas, as well as the right to know about the excavated sites."

Kavali did not interrupt, after all, it was normal for the other party to ask to share the spoils after putting in the effort.

"In addition, the Apostolic Nuncio has the right to be notified in advance and send personnel to any archaeological excavation involving artifacts within Italy."

Cavalli frowned and took a deep breath.

"Finally, the church hopes to obtain some seats on the advisory committee of the upcoming Special Affairs Bureau's budget draft. This should be a mutually beneficial arrangement, and we hope that you will not make things difficult for everyone."

Cavalli remained silent for a few seconds.

He understood the underlying meaning of the other party's last point: to get involved in the extraordinary things that would emerge in Italy in the future.

While this also means that Italy can receive assistance from the Papal States in the future, it also grants the Papal States a one-sided right to know.

However, considering the Papal States' advantage in extraordinary information, it's not actually that bad off.

Surely we can't know more than they do, can we?