"..."Lucca Brewster looked down at himself and hurriedly raised his right hand to grab something beside him.
Then, his grayish-green eyes darkened.
The gold that mixed with the stairs suddenly flew out and fused in midair, forming a thin piece of armor that then covered Lucca Brewster.
Lucca stretched his arms and explained as he took in the feedback, "Stiano's Golden Armor Art. Its defensive capabilities are equivalent to that of a Sequence 5 Guardian."
"Stiano?" Klein asked casually.
Lucca said in a tone as though he was introducing a famous historical figure, "One of the earliest founders of the Moses Ascetic Order.
"I heard that Emperor Roselle had previously modified this Golden Armor Art. I wonder what effects it eventually produced."
...I can roughly imagine... Maybe this "Golden Armor" has twelve different styles[l]... After muttering inwardly for a while, Klein changed the topic to the main topic at hand:
"Will Feynapotter and the Church of Earth Mother officially join the war?"
When Lucca introduced the Stiano's Golden Armor, Audrey opened her eyes and turned her head in a controlled manner. Without any perturbation in her eyes, she looked at the glimmering demigod.
Lucca sighed and said, "Regardless of what they were thinking previously, they'll officially join the war tonight.
"Of course, they wouldn't target Loen for the time being. There's a high chance that they will attack either Lenburg, Masin, or Segar. It's to prevent an extended battlefront and from making too many enemies which would prevent them from being able to concentrate their strength. Furthermore, the Church of Earth Mother might not be willing to exert too much strength..."
After sighing, this demigod from the Church of Knowledge earnestly said to the silver-masked Audrey, "What kind of consultation fee should I pay you?"
Audrey glanced at Mr. World beside her.
"He has already paid."
Lucca Brewster immediately shifted his gaze to Dwayne Dantes.
Klein thought for a moment before saying, "Let me ask a few questions."
"Please speak." At that moment, Lucca didn't look like a demigod at all. Instead, he looked more like a professor waiting to answer his student's questions in class.
Of course, if he could take off that set of golden armor and change into a three-piece suit, the resemblance would be uncanny.
Without thinking, Klein directly asked, "What do you know about the corruption from underground?"
In his opinion, if the Church of Knowledge, which was famous for being knowledgeable, knew about it, then he was definitely at a strong enough level to bear the effects. And if this wasn't suitable for Miss Justice's ears, then he believed that Lucca would bring it up. After all, he wasn't merely a bookworm.
As the discussion about the underground corruption stemmed from their experiences from exploring the sea of collective subconscious in Groselle's Travels, Audrey had a certain understanding of it. At that moment, it didn't feel as though she couldn't understand anything. She was very focused on waiting for the demigod to give an answer.
Lucca frowned slightly and said, "I don't know much about it. It's as though just knowing about it will result in corruption in of itself.
"Uh, I've seen a sentence before in an ancient book: The higher the Sequence, the more dangerous it is to be closer underground."
So the Dragon of Imagination Ankewelt left an extremely deep trauma and some kind of fear down there? Audrey instantly thought of the object sealed in the bronze door of the City of Miracles, Liveseyd.
She then looked at Mr. World beside her, but she didn't notice any changes in his expression.
However, Klein made his marionette nod gently, so as to tell Miss Justice that the connections he made with were identical to hers.
This made Audrey feel like she had returned to the past. Back then, she was still a Low-Sequence Beyonder of the Spectator pathway. There was no way she could decipher any useful information from Mr. World's expression and actions.
The higher the Sequence, the greater the threat of underground objects? This doesn't make sense... Realizing that Lucca was unable to provide more information, Klein thought for a moment and said, "Second question, what prophecy do you have regarding this war?"
With the mention of a prophecy, Lucca Brewster suddenly became spirited.
"It's only the beginning. It's far from reaching its peak.
"Also, a greater portion of the damage stems from the war and is also present beyond the war. I don't know what it is exactly though."
The war has just begun... Audrey's heart sank uncontrollably.
Stems from the war and is also present beyond the war? Is it the apotheosis ritual of Amon's brother, or is it the advancement of the Black Emperor? Or perhaps, the return of Roselle? With a guess, Klein nodded and raised the third question:
"Have you heard of the prophecy of the apocalypse? How do you interpret it?"
Lucca Brewster's expression instantly turned serious.
"No, this is not a prophecy•
"Anyone with the ability to predict the future is certain that the apocalypse will definitely come.
"God mentioned in ‘His' holy bible that the apocalypse will happen in the year 1368 in the Fifth Epoch.
"Of course, God also said that there will be a savior."
The prophecy of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom? 1368, there's only about ten years left... Could the Goddess's act of destroying the alliance with the God of Combat to control the Uniqueness of the Death pathway have something to do with the impending apocalypse? Without realizing it, Klein's expression turned serious. However, he didn't show his reaction on the marionette's face.
It will be the apocalypse in about ten years... As for Audrey, she ruminated over the demigod's words in a daze.
To be honest, she felt that it was fake. It was used by people who pretended to be mysticism experts and were religious cheats so as to deceive the people and earn money through that.
Although she could foresee a large-scale war breaking out, she had never imagined that this world was very close to ending.
This was the understanding of almost all ordinary people and Beyonders.
"Why 1368?" Klein couldn't help but ask.
Lucca Brewster shook his head.
"I don't know either. That's what God's prophecy says."
At the thought that he was only a Sequence 4, making him not have the ability to resist the apocalypse, Klein rationally ended the topic. He said to the saint of the Church of Knowledge and Wisdom, "That shall be all."
What he really wanted to ask were things that the other party probably didn't know either—matters like the corruption that stemmed from the cosmos, or whether Roselle could return or not, or what his state was.
Lucca Brewster nodded and said, "In the future, if there's anything you need help with, you can come to me. For the details, find them out through Edwina."
He remembered that Dwayne Dantes's firearms transaction with Maysanchez had been facilitated by Edwina Edwards.
Edwina... Vice Admiral Iceberg? Audrey was taken aback for a second before coming to a realization. She glanced at Mr. World curiously.
She remembered that she had read a newspaper article before. It contained the story of Gehrman Sparrow and the three female pirate admirals.
"Alright." Klein was never worried about having too many helpers.
After he nodded at Justice Audrey, Lucca Brewster's figure quickly turned transparent, as though he had fused with the spirit world.
Then, he disappeared.
Looking at the spot where he had been standing earlier and then at the hall that no longer had any gold. Klein let out a terse remark inwardly and fell silent for two seconds.
He then made his marionette look at Justice Audrey.
"I thought it would be a little more troublesome."
"That saint had saved himself in time and was willing to trust me, allowing me to plant a psychological cue," Audrey replied with a faint smile, trying her best to appear sincere and humble.
Dwayne Dantes nodded and said, "This help will be taken into account. Go back as soon as possible. It's very dangerous here."
Seeing that a demigod had nearly lost control, Audrey had no doubts about the danger Mr. World warned her about. She immediately used Creeping Hunger and "Teleported" back to the Northern Continent through the spirit world.
After she sacrificed the human-skinned glove to Mr. Fool and settled the rest of the matters, Earl Hall and his eldest son, Hibbert, returned home.
Just as Audrey was about to head out to meet her father and chat with him, she heard her mother, Lady Caitlyn, ask in the hall, "Did something happen again? You came back a lot later than scheduled today."
Earl Hall sighed and said, "Feynapotter has invaded Lenburg."
"Extra! Extra! Feynapotter invades Lenburg!"
Leonard, who was wearing a pair of red gloves, got off the carriage. Just as he was about to enter Saint Samuel Cathedral, he saw the paperboy waving a newspaper and running quickly across the streets and square.
He stopped the paperboy and took out a penny and bought a newspaper. As he flipped through it, he said in a low voice, "Perhaps it won't be long before the south becomes a battlefield."
"That's right." Pallez Zoroast's slightly-aged voice echoed in Leonard's mind.
"But why am I still staying in Backlund..." Leonard muttered in confusion.
After advancing to Spirit Warlock, he had already become the captain of a Red Gloves team. The members had been transferred from other teams, including the familiar faces of Cindy and Bob.
After the war broke out, Leonard had originally thought that his team would be transferred back to the Holy Cathedral like Soest's team, so as to participate in the battle at the Amantha mountain range. To his surprise, he was arranged to be used as a reserve force for the Backlund diocese.
As for this large city, due to its implementation of a night-time curfew and other emergency policies, its security was good, and there weren't many Beyonders who came out to cause destruction. Even the Devils who liked to murder didn't create chaos. It made Leonard rather free, making it more relaxed for him than during non-wartime duty.
At that moment, Pallez Zoroast smiled and said, "I have a guess."
"What guess?" Leonard hurriedly asked in a low voice.
"I'm not telling you now," Pallez replied leisurely.
Leonard didn't say a word. He straightened his collar and entered Saint Samuel Cathedral. He exchanged a few words with the archbishop and prayed for five minutes.
Then, he went underground and pushed open the door to his Red Gloves team's temporary office.
"Good morning, Captain." Bob, Cindy, and the other Red Gloves all stood up and bowed.
Upon hearing their greetings, Leonard, who felt that he was already used to it, was once again in a daze.
In the blink of an eye, it was Monday afternoon. Leonard arranged for his team members to go on separate missions, and he found a lounge to wait for the gathering to begin.
[1] Reference to Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac.
