Chapter 116: The secret behind

Holy city.
The bottom prison of the Arbitration Bureau.
Edward is sitting on a wooden chair with a wooden table in front of him. His hands and feet are wearing heavy iron chains with unique magic applied to them. Five powerful saints stand around him. Sky knight, outside is a well-guarded separate passage.
It can be said that Edward is locked here and it is difficult to fly.
But he didn't panic at all. Instead, he flipped through an ancient book with a yellowed cover and watched the story silently.
At this time, the iron door of the detention room was opened, and Pope John walked in from the outside, sat straight on the chair in front of Edward, and watched Edward who was reading through the wooden table.
The holy knight on the side raised his right hand and put it on his chest, saluting him respectfully.
"..."
After a moment of silence, John knocked on the table with his hand and made a "boom" sound, liberating Edward, who was engrossed in reading, from the ocean of thoughts, and slowly raised his head to look at John.
John asked slowly, "Edward, can you tell me why you are doing this?"
Edward put down the book: "I have already said that my beliefs are broken, and I no longer believe in gods, I just want to destroy them."
"nonsense!"
"I don't know you yet?"
"Anyone here can betray faith, but you alone are impossible!"
With a serious face, John looked directly at Edward, but his tone was slightly softened, and asked: "Tell me, old friend, what's the matter with you? Is anyone pushing you?"
Edward shook his head and said, "No."
John frowned: "If not, then you must be executed, are you sure?"
"..."
Edward said by default.
John sighed, looked around, and asked, "What about your daughter Effie?"
Hearing her daughter's name, Edward's body trembled slightly, but he recovered quickly and slowly said, "I'm sorry for her."
John was silent for a moment, and suddenly waved his hand to let all the guarded holy knights go out, and said: "Keep the door tightly closed and mute the magic. Without my order, no one is allowed to come in or overhear our conversation. Offenders are subject to capital punishment. ."
The holy knights obeyed: "Yes! Lord Pope!"
Soon, the prison emptied, leaving only two good friends who had known each other for many years. They were loyal believers who had been loyal to the Order since they were young, and they were also good brothers who grew up wearing the same open crotch pants.
John asked, "Can you tell me now?"
Edward sighed: "I've said it many times, and the situation is such a situation. I can't help you if you don't believe it."
John frowned, put his hands on the wooden table, tapped the table slowly, and said, "Edward, do you remember when I was canonized as the Pope?"
"..."
"Obviously the best candidate is you. All believers are willing to recommend you. The gods also favor you, but you chose to give up and give me the position of the Pope."
"..."
"So I want to ask, if you want to destroy this city, why didn't you become a pope but an archbishop? If you became a pope, wouldn't you succeed in what happened in the past few days? No one can stop you!"
Seeing John talked about this matter, Edward knew that this was indeed suspicious, but he did not waver at all. He just casually said: "People are old and have different ideas. There was not so much consideration at the beginning. Now there are ideas, but I have no ability."
After listening, John clenched fists with both hands, slammed into the table with a dull crash, then stood up and shouted, "Edward!"
"Do you really want to be executed by fire!?"
"Don't you think about your daughter, Kuula, or me?"
"We are brothers! We grew up in the Holy City! We ate the same meal every day! We prayed for the same prayer! These years, we have gone through ups and downs to get to where we are now!"
"Are you really willing to do nothing, say nothing, just give up like this?"
"Even if you tell lies, I can use the identity of the pope to intercede for you, so that you will be spared the pain of torture and you will not have to die!"
"And Effie doesn't have to see her father being executed..."
After listening, Edward was silent for a moment, shook his head, and said: "It's no use, I have betrayed my faith and I don't believe in God anymore. Those high gods will not let me go, even if you are begging."
"So, John, give it up, don't waste your loyalty in the eyes of the gods, do business early, kill me, and judge this thing that harms the world."
Suddenly, John was so angry that he couldn't speak: "You..."
Seeing Edward didn’t say anything, John sighed and stood up from his chair: "Edward, don’t say anything, I’ll investigate Archid’s affairs thoroughly anyway, and I’ll definitely be able to do it by then. Know all the reasons for what you did!"
"And you..."
"I will use my pope status to buy enough time for you."
"Unless I find out the truth, no one will want to kill you, even if it's a god's order, I have enough rights to defy!"
"Wait, then!"
"I will check everything out!"
After all, Pope John pushed out the door, and the silent barrier created on the wall was also eliminated, and the group of holy knights guarding the barrier and the gate came in again, standing still like a stone. Standing around Edward.
Edward ignored them, but continued to pick up the half-closed ancient book on the table and read it leisurely.
Before long, Kuula walked in from the door, closed the door firmly, and then cast a look at the holy knights guarding Edward and signaled them to go out.
Several holy knights nodded quickly, walked straight out of the secret room, closed the door, and activated the mute enchantment at the same time to prevent any sound in the room from going out.
"father."
Edward put down his book, raised his head, looked directly at Kuula, and asked, "Why are you here?"
Kuula knew that Edward was worried about him. He had pretended to be selfless before and arrested and killed all the participants. Now he came to see Edward secretly and did not allow the conversation to spread. This weird approach is easy. Will be suspected by others.
But she is not worried, everything is under control and will not be suspected.
"Don't worry, father, all the holy knights guarding you are mine. They won't just say anything about our meeting."
"Furthermore, Lord John personally ordered me to see you, in order to let you see my face and tell the story, not that I came to see you on purpose..."
Edward was relieved: "That's good."
"Let's talk, what's the situation outside now, where is that man?"
Kuula slowly said: "In the holy city, all the members of Archid have been cleaned up, and everyone who has something to do with them can be caught, killed, and not let go."
"Almost all the people on our side are in jail. Now only I and a few other Paladins are left. They did not participate in the release of Archid into the city, so I let them continue to lurch without arresting them."
"Outside the holy city, Archid has approached the holy city, but they listened to your opinion and did not directly attack the holy city. Instead, they hid in the quicksand area a dozen miles away, and sent some undead creatures to hinder the man. "
"Presumably, that man has already encountered the undead forces and is cleaning them..."
"In order to make sure that, in case, I let Caiyu and Otsuyu walk in the direction he came from and help him eliminate the troublesome members of Archid, leaving only the group of undead creatures, so that nothing goes wrong in the middle."
After listening, Edward nodded slightly and said: "Very well, as planned, he should be able to eat this group of undead and improve his abilities..."
"Next."
"You immediately bring all the armed forces of the sect to strengthen the defense of the holy city."
"When the man is about to arrive, he will send a signal to Archid, let them attack the city, and then pretend to open the holy city gate, wait for them to come in, then activate all the magic circles, and try to eliminate Archid all at once."
"If Archid refuses to enter the city and only let the undead army attack, then you will directly activate the circle and fight Archid head-on."
"Remember, first eliminate the followers of Archid, and don't move the undead if they can. They are all that the man needs. We have to find a way to leave it to him..."
"After all, that man is our hope, and he is the only one who has the special talent to kill enemies to strengthen himself..."
Kuula said, "Well, I know, it's already being prepared."
Edward: "Good!"
After a pause, Kuula looked at Edward and suddenly asked in a low voice: "Father?"
Edward tilted his head: "Huh?"
Kuula asked: "Are you really not thinking about running away? I can use a little trick to let the rest of us help you escape from prison, or deliberately release Archid’s troops into the city, and then take advantage of the chaos of fighting on both sides, Let you go quietly."
Edward shook his head: "No."
He slowly explained: "I am old, in my fifties, and have no talent for being a professional. With this fragile body, I can live for a few years at most."
"So, instead of dying alone in the midst of stealing my life, I would rather give my life to our cause and make a little contribution at the end."
What else does Kuula want to say: "But..."
Edward interrupted: "Kuura, you know, once the incident of Archid is exposed, someone with a high enough position must stand up and take full responsibility, otherwise it is impossible to explain why they can pass the strict screening. The system has entered the holy city, and has been hiding the secrets of the God-born Cult for so many years, deploying dark chess in various countries."
"The only person who can help them secretly, except for the Pope John, is me who he trusts most..."
"As the Pope, and he has not participated in it at all, it is absolutely impossible for John to come out and take responsibility, so I can only confess, so that I can explain all the arrangements of Archid and reverse the advantages they have accumulated over the years ."
"This is also the reason why I gave up my seat to John. Otherwise, I would become the pope and the situation today would be difficult to deal with."
Kuula lowered his head and gritted his teeth and said: "I know, father, because the man appeared and the plan changed, you must be exposed as a behind-the-scenes man...but you don't have to die for this?
"I can help you escape!"
"As long as things are done strictly, no one will be suspected, and with our help, you will never be caught back!"
"Plus, Uncle John doesn't want you to die, so he will definitely not care about you. As long as you find a remote place, you can live the rest of your life safely..."
After listening, Edward sighed, touched Kuula's hair, and slowly said: "Kuula, do you know why I chose you to let you know all this instead of letting Effie take care of it? "
Kuula raised his head and stared at Edward without speaking.
Edward said slowly: "It's not because she is my own birth, nor is it because you got the inheritance bestowed by the gods...but because you are all my daughters, I love you, but you are better than her. Smarter and calmer in dealing with problems, that’s why I delegate such an important task to you."
"If I tell Effie all of this, her character will definitely prevent my sacrifice and cause our so many years of careful preparation to fall short."
"She will definitely not be able to kill those former friends and the comrades who fought with us."
Kuula was silent: "..."
Edward sighed and continued: "Only you can endure the pain in my heart, kill me indifferently, kill those friends who are fighting with us, and then pretend not to care and continue to be a pious saint. Sky Knight."
"I know."
"This is very unfair to you. I am obviously my daughter, but I want you to bear all this alone."
"However, this world is so cruel. To make changes and accomplish our goals, we must make sacrifices. Our ancestors have made countless sacrifices. Now it is our turn."
"I must die!"
"Only if I die can we preserve our career, preserve the ‘it’ that has been devoted to all this for thousands of years, and then put the world back on track!"
"You also know how many people have been sacrificed for this goal so far. Our comrades in arms, the king of the Kingdom of Alberia, the ordinary people of Archid, and the cities that died tragically to create an army of undead Residents, friends who work with us, believers, clergy..."
"They sacrificed for it, but I slept for a living. Is this the past?"
"Father..." Kuula lowered her head silently, with tears in her eyes. She knew that Edward loved her very much, no less than Edward's love for Effie, so she was deeply saddened in her heart.
"I understand……"
"Everything is for the world..."
After a pause, Edward patted her shoulder and slowly said, "Well, Kuula, dry your eyes. You are my best daughter. Don't cry for me who is not worthy."
"Hurry up!"
"Remember, help that man, let him grow up, defeat the false hopes of Archid, and then complete our goal!"
"When the time is right, ‘it’ will come to you, when all the truths will surface, our sacrifice will be acknowledged, and everyone will respectfully call us heroes..."
After listening, Kuula immediately raised his hand, wiped away the tears on his face, and took a deep breath: "I know, father, rest assured, I will definitely accomplish our goal!"
Then she turned cold and turned back to that extremely cold holy knight, with ruthless eyes in her eyes, turned around, walked straight to the door, and pushed open the closed iron door.
Then, Kuula walked outside the door, the iron door slowly closed, she looked at John and others waiting outside, and said coldly.
"I asked."
"He still insists on the previous reason."
"In this regard, I suggest that you don't wait any longer and put him to death directly, so as not to let our God-born Cult be questioned."
"Even if he is the foster father who fed me up..."
"Nor can you blaspheme..."