Chapter 961: Eve of the Storm

Gloria Dei Old Swedes Episcopal Church.

This was ranked alongside the Church of the Holy Trinity as one of the oldest churches in Philadelphia, even the entirety of Usonia. In fact, it was built prior to the founding of Usonia.

Normally, this place was a major tourist attraction that was always packed to the rafters, but it was currently completely deserted.

At the center of the resplendent church, there were several dozen lit candles in front of a huge statue of the holy father. Sunlight was spilling into the church through the colorful tinted glass, casting vibrant all over the church. Statues with strong religious elements in their designs were standing all around the walls of the church, while the reverends, priests, and nuns in the church were praying quietly with their fingers interlaced between one another.

The door of the prayer hall was tightly shut, but the sound of the quiet prayers could be heard through the gaps around the door.

𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

There were only two people in front of the statue of the holy father, one of which was Cardinal Fernando, while the other one was another elderly man.

Both of them had heads of white hair with white eyebrows that trailed all the way down to their cheekbones and beards that reached their chests. Their eyes seemed to never be capable of opening, and it was impossible to tell their age.

The other elderly man was wearing a brown robe that was already very old and tattered, and there was a braided straw rope tied around his waist, hanging from which was a golden cross. That was most likely the most valuable item he was carrying in a monetary context.

Cardinal Fernando's devout prayers could be heard within the prayer hall. On this day, he was wearing a pristine white robe, and as he knelt on the ground, the robe pooled onto the ground around him like a blooming white rose. After a long while, he finally stood up before heaving a forlorn sigh. "I didn't think you would come here as well, Owen."

Owen brought his palms together, and his eyebrows lifted ever so slightly as he replied, "As the only friar among the cardinals, I had no choice but to come."

A wry smile appeared on Fernando's face. "To think that there would be two cardinals present in the city... It's my fault."

Owen's expression remained unchanged as he replied, "We are all clones of the esteemed pope, so we are all one and the same. God bestowed upon the pope the unique ability to create clones of himself, and in the end, your fault is also my fault, which is also his fault. We've allowed ourselves to be blinded by the secular world."

Fernando heaved a faint sigh.

To the general public, he was one of the church's seven cardinals, while in reality, he was one of the pope's seven clones, and this was achieved through using the complete corpse of a saint. This was already the paramount reward that God was capable of bestowing. According to his knowledge, there was no Duke in either the mortal realm or the underworld capable of creating Duke level clones. This was an honor that one could only earn through serving the god of the creation.

It was also why the church had been able to become the world's most prominent religion with a total of three billion followers.

In 2012, the religions of catholicism and christianity had a total of 2.5 billion followers. In 2018, that number passed 2.8 billion, and at this point, it had long since exceeded three billion.

They were worshiped by over a third of the world's population!

However, such a massive following had been built upon the basis of countless resplendent churches, countless masterpiece pieces of religious scriptures, music, statues, and countless artistic treasures, all of which had been built up over the course of several thousand years. It was an astronomical amount of wealth!

In order to spread the religion, money was required!

Thus, when the wealthiest organization in the world came to them, they found it difficult to turn down the offer proposed to them, even though they knew that the organization harbored demons and monsters.

In addition to that, they had received proselytization rights in the final few countries of Southern Alkebula.

"I made a mistake." A hint of remorse appeared on Fernando's wizened face as he sighed, "I shouldn't have given the stigmata to Udyr. I placed too much trust in him when I should've heeded the warning of the pope instead."

Owen said, "The pope didn't want to promote Udyr to become the commander of the paladins. He told us that Udyr had already been blinded by his hatred and he was far too aggressive and short-tempered, making him unfit to be a leader."

Right at this moment, a crack suddenly appeared on the statue of the holy father.

The crack appeared on the statue's forehead, and immediately thereafter, countless tiny cracks began to branch out from it.

Fernando paid no heed to that at all as he suddenly said, "You're overseeing the guardians of Philadelphia, while I'm responsible for activating the Spear of Longinus. What's the situation like now?"

Owen finally opened his eyes.

They were completely white without any pupils, yet he was able to cast his gaze accurately into Fernando's eyes as he replied, "The grand script of death will conclude in 12 days. Three hours ago, the Black Pearl sent out 23 sea monster grade warships from the Caribbean Sea, the Black Tulip sent out 20 warships, and the Red Boiler also sent out 20 warships. Those ships are all sailing toward the eastern territorial sea of Usonia, and according to our agreement, they won't enter the territorial sea until the day of the grand script of death's conclusion. Brando DuPont and Arlot Rockefeller have already seized control over the entire city of Philadelphia with their armies, and they're also waiting. As for our forces, with the two of us present along with the three stigmatas we're carrying, we can instantly muster up a force of five angels, so there shouldn't be anyone challenging us."

At this point, the entire holy father statue was already riddled with cracks.

Fernando withdrew his gaze and said with a complex expression, "We are supposed to be defending our faith, yet we're allowing these demons to enter the most ancient city in the most important nation on the new continent. Have we really done the right thing here, Owen?"

Owen joined his palms together as he lowered his head and replied, "This is the decree of God. Everything we're doing is for our faith."

Fernando didn't say anything. In the next instant, the statue of the holy father abruptly exploded, but the shattered pieces were hovering in mid-air as if they were unaffected by gravity. All of the pieces were also connected by bands of golden light, and the light converged to the center of where the statue used to stand, then materialized into a golden spear of light!

It was around two meters in length, and the light was too indistinct for one to make out the exact shape of the spear. However, there was a sense of holiness intermingled with bloodlust that was washing through the entire hall like a tsunami.

The sound of indistinct holy music rang out, and the flames of the surrounding candles erupted to over a meter tall! A vibrant red hue instantly settled over the entire hall, then completely disappeared as if it had been cleansed away by the subsequent eruption of holy light.

It was the godslayer spear, the Spear of Longinus!

Fernando took a deep breath before suddenly thrusting his palm toward the ground, and ripples immediately surged over the surface of the ground as if it had become a pond. A golden coffin that was constructed entirely from gold with precious gems embedded all over its surface slowly rose up, and as the lid of the coffin was opened, the Spear of Longinus immediately flew into the coffin as a streak of golden light, following which Fernando hoisted the giant coffin onto his own back.

The coffin was two and a half meters in length, and it completely dwarfed the hunched over elderly man that was Fernando, but he was carrying it on his back effortlessly.

"From this point onward, I will wait here for 12 days. I don't take a single step out of this church, nor will I meet with anyone. From this moment forth, Gloria Dei Old Swedes Episcopal Church will be temporarily closed, and no one is allowed to approach the prayer hall without express permission. If anyone dares to approach this place without permission during the next 12 days, they are to be killed on sight with no exceptions!" His voice swept through the entire church like a violent storm.

"Yes, Cardinal Fernando!" Loud responses rang out from all directions.

Owen said in an indifferent voice, "Three paladin commanders have already adopted their positions 500 meters away, and the friars are there as well. All of the church followers at the Baron and Count level in the cities of Philadelphia and Washington DC have already arrived to ensure that nothing happens to the Spear of Longinus."

He turned to Fernando as he continued, "You still look very concerned. What are you worried about, my friend?"

Fernando didn't say anything, but the image of that emissary of the Cathayan Underworld that had toyed with both the church and the Freemasonry on that night surfaced in his mind.

What were his intentions? What was he looking for?

After a brief hesitation, he asked, "Do you think the Cathayan Underworld will intervene?"

Owen's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he replied, "They wouldn't if they were smart. Brando and Arlot have already conducted an investigation, and they discovered that that man didn't enter Usonia through the mortal realm. You should be aware of just how powerful their forces are in the mortal realm, and in the underworld, the warlords of both the Red Eagle Navy and the Black Shirt Navy have testified that there have been no high-grade emissaries from the Cathayan Underworld entering the Usonian Underworld. Do you understand what that means? If that emissary from the Cathayan Underworld wants to strike again, there's a very good chance he'll be doing it alone. In 12 days' time, there will be four Dukes, more than five Marquesses, and over 60 fleets gathered in Philadelphia, and that's not even taking into account the Red Eagle Navy and the Black Shirt Navy in the underworld. Even if he's a Yama-King, there's nothing he could possibly do. If he really does try to intervene, then he'll be doing nothing but courting death!"

……………………………………………………

In a presidential suite in the Hilton Hotel of Philadelphia.

The Hilton Hotel was one of the three major players in Usonia's hotel sector with the other two being Marriott and Starwood. The renowned Sheraton Hotels and Resorts brand was a subsidiary of Starwood.

The presidential suite in such a high-end hotel was naturally extremely lavish with antiquated Europa style decor and genuine leather sofas so soft that one could almost sink into them like quicksand. However, there were only two people in the entire suite, and even all of the servers had been asked to vacate the suit.

"You should really fix that rotten temper of yours," Arlot said as he read the newspaper that he was holding in a calm manner. "Agitation and frustration won't solve any problems. We've already done the best that we can. Not everything has gone according to plan, but the final outcome won't be affected."

Brando was standing in front of a floor-to-ceiling window with a lit cigar of premium quality in his hand. He was wearing an expensive designer suit, and one hand was stuck in his trouser pocket while the other was holding the cigar. The platinum rings on his hand were further proof of his wealth, if any further proof was even needed.

"Not everything has gone according to plan? You can say that again!" A cold smile appeared on his face as he looked at the recently sustained scar on his face. The scar squirmed like a hideous worm with every chance in his facial expression, and he gnashed his teeth together as he said, "The three death gods of the Caribbean are furious! They'll still be able to ascend to godhood, but they won't be able to obtain Tezcatlipoca's inheritance. They originally had a chance to take all of Tezcatlipoca's secrets and divine arts straight from his mind, but what now?"

He curled a finger and a crystalline ashtray flew over to him. He tapped the cigar against the lip of the ashtray as he continued with a cold smile, "As things are now, they'll only be able to possess the Yin energy of a death god. They'll have immense power but no arts to use, and as a result, our negotiations with them have completely stalled, how will the final outcome not be affected?"

"At the very least, they still have a chance to reach the death god level," Arlot said as he closed his newspaper. "The worst-case scenario would be if they couldn't get anything out of this. Speaking of which, have you received any information on that Yama-King from the Cathayan Underworld?"

Brando squashed his cigar into the ashtray in a frustrated manner as his teeth transformed into sharp fangs. "No! He entered the underworld! No one dares to enter the underworld at this point in time, so no one knows whether he'll reappear or not!"

He turned to Arlot with a vicious expression as he continued, "He's like a sword that's constantly hanging over our heads!"

A vicious gleam also flashed through Arlot's eyes as he replied, "I understand that, which is why I'm conducting surveillance over the entire city of Philadelphia. In contrast with those wolf cubs of yours, my followers will be able to see far more from the sky. Due to our presence in this city, all of the vengeful spirits have either fled or hidden themselves, so there are only humans and us in this city right now! As soon as any new Yin energy emerges, I'll immediately be notified. If he dares to try and stick his nose into this matter, then he'd better be prepared for his nose to be chopped off! Other people may fear death gods, but we don't. We're immortal and there's nothing about them that we need to fear!"