About the Popal Staff...... Lu Xiao thought that the original purpose of this thing was not a staff at all, but the Catholics who accidentally found this Eden artifact forcibly gave it a name and function.

In fact, the true purpose of the Papal Staff was as one of the two necessary items to open the Isu Vault.

A circular hollow can be clearly seen in the middle of the upper section of the Pope's staff, and Lu Xiao speculates that this place should be used to place the Golden Apple of Eden, and the two can be combined into a complete key.

"Huh~"

The sharp whistle from outside the window woke up Lu Xiao, who was a little distracted, this was the agreed signal of the assassins who had been cut off and put on guard, indicating that a large number of enemies were coming.

Retracting his divergent thinking, Lu Xiao focused all his attention on the church.

The interior of the Sistine Chapel is very large, and due to the regulations of the Catholic Church, the Holy See paladins armed to the teeth are guarded on the periphery of the inner court, and only hundreds of high-status priests and bishops are left in the central chapel.

Only Rodrigo, who was the Pope, stood beside two heavily armored warriors, one on the left and one on the right.

'Get moving. ’

Lu Xiao confirmed the situation in the chapel and gestured to Ezio and Federico.

Two young Assassins of the Auditore family leapt off the crossbar one after the other, and Federico swooped down on the heavily armored guard on his left, his sharp Hidden Blade stabbing him in the neck without hesitation.

Ezio, who landed on the ground, ignored the guards on his right, and another group of Assassins attacked almost simultaneously, clearing out the last guards in front of Rodrigo.

Rodrigo was in danger, he had expected an attack in the chapel, and as Ezio approached him, the papal staff in Rodrigo's hand snapped to the ground.

"Boom!"

The sound waves that spread out made Ezio's brain dizzy for a moment, and Federico stumbled as he was about to get up.

"Hmm!"

Lu Xiao, who was still squatting on the beam, also felt a dull pain in his brain, and the golden apple of Eden hanging on his waist sent a wisp of clear water to his brain at this time, which greatly relieved Lu Xiao's discomfort.

The Auditore brothers, who had the blood of the First Civilization, only felt a swelling pain in their brains, and the other three Assassins were not so lucky.

The three people who had just killed the guard on the right fell to the ground screaming, and Lu Xiao could clearly see through Eagle Vision that a certain energy flow on their bodies was converging towards the papal staff in Rodrigo's hand that glowed with white shimmer.

'Absorb the life force? ’

"Implausible assassins, I had long since guessed that you would attack today!"

Rodrigo swung the papal staff sideways, and the ripples of energy that spread out from the staff knocked Ezio and Federico into the air at the same time, and the two of them fell into the church monks in disarray.

Not only did the three Assassins who attacked Rodrigo fall screaming, but the hundreds of monks present also rolled on the ground with their heads clutched in pain.

Aside from Rodrigo, the wiggler of the Pope's Staff, only Ezio and Federico, who were knocked out of the air, were barely able to move.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Lu Xiao stretched out his arms and nails forward, and at the same time shot a poisonous crossbow arrow in his left hand and a sleeve gun bullet in his right hand at Rodrigo.

"Bell!"

Lu Xiao's long-range attacks were blocked by the invisible stance around Rodrigo's body.

However, judging from Rodrigo's panting appearance, even if he absorbed the vitality of more than 100 people present, using the Pope's Staff would still be a great burden on him.

Seeing that the long-range attack was useless, Lu Xiao jumped off the beam and helped Ezio and Federico who fell to the ground with the help of the soothing effect of the golden apple.

"It seems that the Papal Staff will have a negative effect on people within a certain radius, and only those who hold the golden apple can completely resist its power."

Lu Xiao looked up at Rodrigo, who was panting with his staff: "You two take the others out of the artifact's area of effect first, and I'll deal with Rodrigo." ”

Ezio and Federico knew they would not be able to do it for the time being, and with a headache, they helped the three fellow Assassins to their feet and retreated to the outside of the church over the fallen monks and guards.

Rodrigo pestle his staff and looked up at Lu Xiao: "Assassin, the treasure in the secret room belongs to the Templars, hand over the golden apple, I can spare you from death." ”

Lu Xiao shook his head with a smile: "What are you talking about, do you think you have won steadily?" ”

"Ah~" Rodrigo deliberately showed a sudden look: "It seems that you still don't know the true effect of the Pope's staff, you don't think that it only has the ability to absorb life force, right?" ”

"Bell!"

Roderick turned his staff around, and the head of the staff slammed against the ground, and the invisible stance fluctuations erupted outward with the staff as the center.

Lu Xiao hurriedly sank the center of gravity of his body, and his feet on the bright red carpet slid backwards about a meter under the thrust of the staff.

"Not bad."

Lu Xiao narrowed her eyes and looked at Rodrigo, activating the Pope's staff to make Rodrigo bend over and cough: "I want to see if you dare to drain all the vitality of your subordinates and convert them into attack power." ”

Lu Xiao's words hit Rodrigo's sore spot.

If all the monks and paladins present were to die here, Rodrigo's men would be left unavailable for a long time, and he would become a bare-roded pope with no authority.

But without absorbing the life force of those present, Rodrigo would not be able to maintain the power of the Pope's Staff.

"Make a choice, Rodrigo."

Lu Xiao held the golden apple in his left hand, and pointed his right hand at Rodrigo's reconstructed repeating sleeve gun.

"Fight to become an empty pope that no one can use to resist to the end, or put down the papal staff and continue to live a glorious and prosperous life in the future, the choice is in your hands."

Rodrigo's eyes flickered, and it was clear that this dilemma had left him with no choice for a moment.

"Since you can't choose ...... for the time being"

"Bang!"

The Pocket Gun fired three shots in succession, and the pocket bullets that swirled along the rifling line all hit the invisible position made by the Pope's Staff.

Although he failed to hurt Rodrigo, the impact of the three bullets further weakened his control, and Rogrig stumbled to his feet, almost losing his footing and falling to the ground.

Unlike the last time he was captured, the Chamber of Secrets was more important to the Templars than some of the artifacts of Eden, and even the power-hungry Rodrigo would not dare to give it up.

Seeing Rodrigo stand up again with a ruthless face, Lu Xiao understood his choice.

'Resist to the end...... Then don't blame me. ’

Pulling out the Eden Holy Sword brought back from France, Lu Xiao poured almost all of his magic power into it, and the surface of the Holy Sword began to emit a hazy golden light.

Rodrigo looked at the weapon in Lu Xiao's hand with a shocked face: "That's ...... The Holy Sword of Eden?! ”

"That's right, that's the end of your resistance!"

"Boom!"

As Lu Xiao raised the holy sword with both hands and slashed downward, under the echo of the faintly audible divine voice, a brilliant stream of golden energy crossed the distance between the two and slammed into the invisible barrier created by the Pope's staff.

'How does it look a bit like Excarlibur's lighting...... Although the momentum is much weaker. ’

"Jingle Bell~"

There was a crisp cracking sound of substance, and the protection constructed by the Pope's Staff was like paper, unhindered by the flow of light emitted by the Holy Sword.

Rodrigo screamed and was swept away by the backlash, slamming into the walls of the church with its beautiful frescoes.

With the experience of the last time, Lu Xiao retained a small amount of mana this time to ensure that he would not fall into a state of mana overdraft.

Rodrigo, whose head hit the wall, fainted unsurprisingly, and the Papal Staff rolled out of his hand.

Walking up to Rodrigo and picking up the staff, Lu Xiao inlaid the golden apple into the circular hole at the top of the staff, and the two were perfectly combined.

The strange energy poured into Lu Xiao's body, and it seemed to stimulate the Isu bloodline he possessed to some extent.

"Ezio, Federico, let's go in together."

Waving to the Auditore brothers, who were probing their brains at the door of the church, Lu Xiao used his eagle eye to find and open the mechanism, and then took the lead into the secret room under the Sistine Chapel.

"Let's end this as soon as possible, and let us see for ourselves what 'treasure' is in the secret room."