Chapter 273 : Chapter 273
Chapter 273. Seventh-Tier Powerhouses Gather
The next evening, in the main hall of Golden Rose Palace.
Beneath the enormous dome, more than a thousand high-purity magic crystal lamps lit up at once. Dazzling cold light poured down, illuminating the gold-leaf-covered floor tiles of the great hall until they shone white.
The highest-ranking nobles and power brokers of Astrelia Kingdom gathered in groups of two or three, carrying crystal wine glasses as they moved between the long tables.
The air was filled with the mingled scents of expensive perfume and the mellow aroma of fine red wine.
Minister of Military Affairs Conrad stood beside a stone pillar on the eastern side, speaking in low voices with several generals who held real authority. The Minister of Finance was at the other end, surrounded by great nobles from the western provinces.
Because of the Northern Territory’s current immense influence, Logaris and Sylvia had been arranged in the core area. Their seats were right beside the main seat, making them extremely conspicuous.
Clack, clack.
The crisp sound of metal war boots forcibly cut off the conversations in the great hall.
A flash of silver-white cold light cut into the crowd. Elena, one of only two seventh-tier knights in the kingdom and known as “Moonblade,” entered the great hall in full armor, one hand resting on the hilt of the longsword at her waist.
As the kingdom’s Court Swordsmanship Grandmaster, she was not only a peak seventh-tier powerhouse, but also someone who had mastered and taught the kingdom’s most advanced secret sword techniques. She was a monument countless young knights looked up to.
Walking beside her was another towering man clad in dark-gold heavy armor—the Commander of the Royal Capital Guard, Aureus. Also a genuine seventh-tier combatant, this iron-blooded commander held heavy military power and was fully responsible for maintaining the safety and absolute stability of the entire Royal Capital. He was the final line of defense for the Royal Capital’s security.
With two seventh-tier powerhouses appearing at the same time, even the flow of Aether in the air grew sluggish. The nobles in the great hall, who had originally been harboring their own thoughts, all held their breath in silent accord.
Elena’s cold gaze swept across the entire hall. She ignored the ingratiating looks and subtle overtures from the surrounding nobles. She walked straight through the crowd and finally stopped before the Northern Territory’s seats, stepping forward to give a slight nod to Sylvia, who was seated there.
She stopped, her gaze falling on Sylvia as she said in an even tone, “Your Highness, it has been a long time. After returning to the Northern Territory, you have not neglected the fundamentals of sword practice, have you?”
“Thank you for your concern, Mentor. I practice sword swings every day,” Sylvia said, rising to her feet and performing a dignified half-disciple salute.
“Mm.” Elena did not waste another word. She turned and walked toward a separate small table at the very edge of the hall. Royal Capital Guard Commander Aureus also remained silent, pulled out a chair, and sat down opposite her.
Only then did everyone in the great hall secretly let out a breath of relief.
In Astrelia Kingdom, there had always been an unwritten rule: powerhouses above the seventh tier were the kingdom’s absolute foundation and heritage. They were responsible for external deterrence and were loyal only to the king.
To prevent high-end combat power from being meaninglessly consumed in internal strife, they were strictly forbidden from personally entering any internal political factional struggle.
This unwritten rule had not appeared out of nowhere. It originated from a lesson of blood and tears that had been engraved into memory several hundred years ago. During that period, the kingdom had once fallen into an earth-shattering civil war over the throne because two seventh-tier powerhouses became involved in the struggle for power, tearing the entire country apart.
It was precisely that devastating internal consumption that allowed their sworn enemy, Valeria Empire, to take advantage of the situation and plunder vast stretches of the kingdom’s territory. Even today, Astrelia had still failed to reclaim the lands lost back then, and the entire kingdom continued to suffer from the lingering poison of that civil war.
Therefore, no matter how intense factional struggles became, as long as it had not reached an existential crisis where the kingdom itself faced destruction, “seventh tiers do not intervene” had become the final bottom line silently understood by all those in power.
Hummm—
At that moment, a layer of soft pure-white light like the dawn suddenly rippled open at the main entrance of the hall. The originally tense air in the great hall became warm.
That feeling was like a wisp of spring breeze in the depths of winter, gently brushing over the cheeks of everyone present and filling them with sincere peace and a comforting sense of warmth.
Pope Gregory VII walked slowly into the hall along the red carpet, holding a holy scepter inlaid with pure-white crystal. His face was withered, covered in age spots, yet at this moment, the smile at the corner of his mouth was as kindly as that of an elderly grandfather from next door.
The pure holy power surging inside him had been restrained so perfectly that not a drop leaked out. It had transformed into a gentle aura capable of soothing people’s hearts.
Behind the Pope followed twelve Holy Knights of Judgment in heavy armor. Their steps were steady, and even the friction of their armor had been deliberately lowered, as though they feared disturbing this sacred tranquility.
However, none of the Royal Capital nobles seated on either side of the hall dared to feel even the slightest contempt because of his kindly appearance.
That was because everyone knew that the frail-looking, withered old man before them was not only the leader of the Holy Church as a seventh-tier divine spellcaster.
More importantly, during the most turbulent decades in the past, when the gods had suddenly fallen silent and could no longer respond to the prayers of their believers, it had been Gregory VII who used absolute iron-fisted methods to forcibly take control of the tottering Holy Church.
By his strength alone, he had suppressed heresies and rebellions that rose on all sides, forcibly stabilizing the Holy Church’s internal situation when it had been on the verge of collapse.
Although the harsh methods he had used back then had also planted hidden dangers, leading to the complete fracture and long-standing opposition between the Holy Church’s Conservative Faction and Progressive Faction today, no one could deny that he had kept the colossal entity known as the Holy Church standing at the brink of faith’s collapse.
Among Astrelia’s upper circles, some historians had even privately asserted that Gregory VII’s sudden rise and iron-blooded rule could be said to have forcibly extended the Holy Church’s life by another hundred years.
How could an iron-blooded Pope who had fought his way out of an age of despair truly be nothing more than a kind old grandfather?
When Logaris saw the old man’s current appearance, full of compassion and as gentle as a spring breeze, he could not help recalling the days when he had still been a student at Saint Arcadia Academy in his youth. Even back then, he had already dealt with this old man.
It had been at the funeral of a certain conservative cardinal of the Holy Church.
Because Logaris had previously had a “tiny” “minor clash” with that cardinal, he had very “carelessly” and “accidentally” knocked over an entire bottle of “Laughing Potion” that he had personally concocted into the drinking-water trough provided for the honored guests backstage at the funeral.
The memorial service, which should originally have been solemn, dignified, and full of tearful grief, “very unfortunately” turned into a chaotic “farewell party” with demons dancing wildly and laughter shaking the heavens in less than ten minutes.
The sixteen-year-old Logaris stated that he knew absolutely nothing about it.