Second Genesis

Both Edmun and Sir Ovaal breathed out a sigh of relief.

The composure of the envoy wavered for a moment. He quickly regained it, but this was already the second time it was broken since he had been in this backwater place.

His expression was painted in gloominess as he turned to face Calixan.

"Bishop Calixan."

"Who might you be, esteemed guest?"

Calixan’s words were polite, but the lack of inflection within them made him seem like he didn’t really care about the interaction all that much at all.

The gap between Vanguard and Command Classes was enormous, and Priests were already of a higher caliber than Holy Knights were. It was commonly accepted that a Priest of a tier lower than a Holy Knight was about equivalent.

That was to say that a Low Tier Priest was on the same level as a Mid Tier Holy Knight. A Bishop was in an even more unique position as they not only had their own personal strength, but also the support of the faith of their Church as well.

There were many more layers of complexity to this, including the nuns. All things that the envoy was well aware of.

"I am an envoy of the Valdi, Frantz."

Calixan blinked with hints of surprise in his gaze.

"Is that so? Why has a Dukedom sent a representative to my humble city?"

Frantz sneered. "One of your own has killed Sir Terran."

Calixan’s pupils constricted and he turned toward Sir Ovaal and Edmun. As far as he knew, only these two would be in position to do this. They were both strong enough, and had the proximity. In addition, their relationship with the church might allow them to fool themselves into thinking they could act as they pleased.

That was far from the case. The Valdi wouldn’t allow such a slight to slide.

Sir Ovaal bowed. "It wasn’t us, Bishop. The culprit is currently inside the trials."

"Inside the trials?" Calixan’s eyes narrowed. "Grey Temolt."

Both Sir Ovaal and Edmun were taken aback. How did Calixan know of Grey?

Worry started to bubble up in Edmun’s heart. What had Grey gotten himself into this time? If Bishop Calixan didn’t like Grey, this would make things a lot trickier.

The Dukedom couldn’t massacre a city with a Command Class Bishop at its helm, it would be too much, and the other nobles would never accept it. It could be said that with Calixan’s appearance, the city was already saved.

But Bishops had a great deal of sway and pull in their Churches. Even if Grey passed the Trials, in order to become a True Paladin—much like to become a True Buddha—he needed to reach the Vector Class, achieve Enlightenment, and progress to the Vanguard Class.

Until then, his authority would be firmly beneath that of Bishop Calixan.

Edmun really couldn’t think of any good reason why Calixan would know of Grey other than something terrible.

Was that because he had very little faith in his disciple?

Yes. That was exactly the case.

"You know of this potential Paladin?"

"... Paladin...?" Calixan asked slowly.

The only reason Calixan spoke Grey’s name was because he knew that the only person who could possibly both be of a weak enough Class to take a trial and still powerful enough to kill Terran was he and he alone.

There was simply no way that there was a second genius of such a caliber in the city. Not a single chance.

It seemed that he was correct. But what he didn’t expect was for Grey to be a Paladin. Now that... was unexpected. And it would make some things trickier.

Just a bit trickier, though.

Edmun took a breath and realized he was going to need to speak. He hadn’t expected Calixan to have some sort of history with Grey, but if he didn’t act now to set things on a better path, it would only end worse for Grey.

There was already no chance Grey could deal with the envoy. The envoy was at least a Mid Tier Holy Knight, and the treasure he had relied on to cause so much destruction on the way here only went to show how much the Dukedom had prepared him for this appearance.

If a castaway like Terran had an Epic Set armor to rely on, what would this envoy have? Certainly at least a few Epic items—not of the Vector Class, but the shocking Vanguard Class instead.

That was already an impossible battle to survive if the envoy insisted on skirting the rules and getting revenge.

But Calixan... he had no need of such things. He had a lot of unilateral movement when it came to dealing with knights and Priests under his charge.

And he had not only the power of the Command Class, but also the support of the Church’s Blessings.

If Frantz was already an impossible enemy, Calixan was little more than a death sentence.

"I would like to say two things, if I may, Bishop."

"Oh?" Calixan looked toward Edmun. "Go on, Sir Trolley."

"First I would like to say that this battle occurred due to antagonism by Sir Terran toward my disciple. For unknown reasons, Sir Terran has been targeting Grey for a very long time, even going as far as to plan to ruin his knighting ceremony just a few days ago. There is proof of this and it can be corroborated by several other Holy Knights."

A dangerous light flashed in the envoy’s eyes, but Edmun continued to speak. With Calixan here, Frantz’s pressure was no longer suffocating him.

But since Calixan also likely had problems with Grey, he had to be cautious with his words. So, after saying this, he took a gamble.

"Second, my disciple has not only shown signs of the Paladin Frame, but also the Mark of the Buddha Frame. He has both."

Frantz’s pupils constricted. "Bullshit."

His pressure roared, but it was like a pebble falling into the ocean that was Calixan. He was snuffed out without a thought.

Frantz felt stifled, but the words that Calixan said next left him not knowing what to say.

"I see. This is an astonishing matter, truly. A Dual Neural Frame... such a thing is only the matter of legends.

"Unfortunately, this Grey Temolt has committed a grave sin."

Edmun’s eyes widened and he made to interrupt, but was stifled himself before he could.

"This has nothing to do with Sir Terran. I personally witnessed Grey Temolt slay a Buddha, and I have reason to believe that this is why he has suddenly gained an impossible boon. Unfortunately, at the time, I was a mere projection and could do nothing but watch.

"The Buddha who appeared at that time is also the reason I was able to achieve such enlightenment and I have him to thank for my current strength and power. His corpse should have long been taken in by the knights present at the time. I already took the liberty of confirming with Sir Kulin."

Calixan sighed as though he was lamenting a great tragedy.

"I have reason to believe that this Grey Temolt is quite sinister, and the only methods I know of that could possibly steal the fate of a Buddha lie amongst the Dark Kin.

"But whether I am correct or not, there is but one truth.

"The slaying of a Buddha is punishable by Divine Judgment and death."