Empire, its full name is [HRE Empire], of course, the HRE here has nothing to do with the gods, it was originally the name of a flower.

The Shinra flower resembles a white rose, but the petals have incredible golden silk lines, and the golden streaks in the sunlight seem to flow with life, and that elegant and noble temperament immediately attracted the favor of King Sassen, who regarded it as a symbol of the emperor and painted it into the national coat of arms of the first generation.

For generations, only emperors were allowed to wear garments with the pattern of the Shinra flower, but by the time of King Sassen VII, it gradually became a privilege for all members of the royal family, with the only difference being that only the emperor's HRE flower was tattooed with a golden silk pattern representing nobility.

Although the two countries of the HRE Empire - Sassen and the Holy See - Thelonia have the same name of God, their meanings are very different, and even more, since the early days of the formation of the state, the two countries have been in a state of stalemate in the Cold War.

In the centuries-long Cold War, in order to fulfill the last wishes of their ancestors, successive Sassen kings sent troops to attack the Holy See from time to time, but the Holy See was naturally unwilling to be annexed by the Empire, and they chose to fight back.

On the tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of miles of border between the two countries, I don't know how many lives have ended here, and I don't know how many people have been stained with blood in each other's ancient castles and fortresses...... And the most tragic one was the [One Year War] more than ten years ago!

The [One Year War] was like a meat grinder, devouring the lives of hundreds of thousands of people alive, and in the imperial [***] team, the corpses of three-fifths of the warriors became cold here, and the same, the Holy See was not comfortable, and the huge losses made the Pope unable to sleep peacefully for a long time.

As the saying goes, war brings hatred in addition to conquest!

It has to be said that after a year of war, even if the two countries put aside their old animosities and hesitated to try to contact each other, the people of the two countries still did not forget this hatred.

In the first few years, Imperial merchants who traveled to Thessalonia were intercepted and killed, and similarly, few missionaries sent by the Holy See to the Empire survived the angry populace of the Empire.

Hatred, unforgettable hatred, is not so easy to eliminate...... "Hold!" The old dean looked apologetically at Father Andrew, who felt a little embarrassed, knocked on the pipe in his hand, and said in a low voice, "This is Father Andrew, one of the twelve cardinal archbishops of Salonia, don't be too rude......"

At the same time, Father Andrew also did the same thing as the old abbot, he nodded awkwardly to the old abbot, and then said in a deep voice with a little anger, "Brother Cheshe, as a believer in God, you should not make such an impudent act!"

Under the joint persuasion of the two great magicians, Professor Hodd and Brother Chesher paused, and finally chose to calm the magic fluctuations, you must know that a few minutes ago, the magic aura of the two was in a fierce collision, and the small cyclones generated one by one, no matter which one, looked so deadly, the whole room seemed to be in a strong wind, and the materials and documents were blown away and could be seen everywhere.

Taking a deep breath, Professor Huo De calmed down his excitement, lowered his head and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, Dean!"

"Hmm!" the old dean just nodded, as if he understood the reason, but he still sighed and persuaded, "I didn't expect that after more than ten years, the hatred in your heart has still not been eliminated...... Alas, hatred cannot be used as motivation to learn magic, which is why you have failed on the path of magic, and your whole heart has been occupied by hatred, where is there room for magic?" he shook his head, and just in time to meet Father Andrew's puzzled eyes, he explained, "He was once an apprentice to a friend of mine, Nigo Barrett......"

"Nigo Barrett?" Father Andrew looked at the old dean suspiciously, then at Professor Hoder, and then his eyes moved, as if he had thought of something, and said uncertainly, "Could it be the magician with the title of [Flame Dancer]?"

If I'm not mistaken, that guy is the magician who once caused huge casualties to the Holy See!

In terms of the attainment of fire-type blue magic, he has never seen a stronger guy than him, and the fire-type blue magic he casts does not even need to chant spells...... Father Andrew took a slight breath, his mind couldn't help but recall the scene more than ten years ago, he still can't forget that terrible magic, in his memory, the magician named Nigo Barrett is like a spirit of fire, just a raise of his hand, knocking down a white magician of the Holy See, that magic, even the [Holy Light Wall] is difficult to defend against, completely subverting his previous understanding of fire magic, and finally ...... Alas!

As if to see the guilt and embarrassment in Father Andrew's eyes, the old dean coughed and said, "Okay, the problem in front of us now is not the contradiction between our two countries, but the man named Argus, Hold, you can tell us more about some of the things that happened when you met that man......" He said, he winked at Professor Hold.

After all, the relationship between the two countries is gradually developing for the better, and it would be a pity that the old dean does not want to affect this relationship just for the sake of past grievances.

When he saw the old dean's eyes, Huo De hesitated for a moment and nodded, "Yes, dean......" As soon as his words fell, he heard Father Andrew smile and say, "Well, since we are here to ask you for help, then let me explain the whole thing first......"

"This ......" The old dean understood what Father Andrew meant after a pause, knocked on his pipe, and said while stuffing tobacco into the pipe, "That's fine, then I'll trouble you!" When he spoke, the old dean didn't have too much respect, after all, the two had known each other more than ten years ago, although they were in a state of both enemies and friends at that time.

"Here's the thing......" Reaching out to take the teacup handed over by a professor, Father Andrew nodded politely in thanks, then held the cup of tea and frowned, "Gretel, I think you also know, one of the twelve cardinals of the Holy See is absent......"

"Well, of course I know, St. Charles George!" said the old dean, smiling as he bit his pipe, "and Weston was so happy that old fellow!"

"That Weston!" Father Andrew smiled wryly and shook his head helplessly, and then, the smile on his face gradually retracted, and he said in a deep voice, "Originally, Charles was the most powerful and qualified to be the next pope, but ...... Actually, when he offered to leave Thessalonia, a few of us old fellows knew that he would not return...... But in order to make up for the void left by Charles's departure, we spent more than ten years and set out to train someone who could succeed Charles, and this successor, named Roncy, was a good young man......"

"Did he run into the man named Argus?" asked the old dean, bewildered, biting his pipe.

"Hmm!" Father Andrew nodded with regret on his face, his eyes showed a little regret and guilt, and he shook his head and said, "Roncy was cultivated by His Majesty the Pope, and he is far superior to others in terms of character and ability, and he is very kind......"

"Isn't that great?"

"Yes, kindness is indeed good, after all, he will inherit the Pope in the future, but it is because of this kindness that he is killed......"

"Huh?"

As if remembering something, Father Andrew put the teacup in his hand on the coffee table beside him, shook his head and sighed, and said, "That day, Roncy just picked up a person to go to Gogin, Gojin is a city in the south, the Pope asked him to preach there, if it goes well, he will stay in Goguin for a while, receive the teaching of the local priest, and then return to Salonia to start taking over as cardinal, because ten years is too short, just to perceive and guide the Holy Light took most of the time......"

"Well," said the old dean, nodding in agreement, in surprise, "could it be that you met Argus in that city called Gogin?"

"No, until then!" said Father Andrew, shaking his head with inexplicable grief, "and I am responsible for this misfortune...... You know, as the cardinal's heir, we need to know his emotions every day, so that he doesn't go down the wrong path because of something, so in his entourage, there is a monk, well, Brother Maureen who is in charge of this, and he will burn everything he encounters every day in a magical letter and send it to Salonia...... And on that occasion, the magic letter mentions that on the way to Gogin, Roncy met several exiled villagers, and they told him that a man in a long black coat had attacked the village and killed everyone in the village......"

"That Argus?"

At that time, Roncy offered to find the man and convict him, and Brother Morin also wrote this in a magical letter to Salonia, but I didn't really care at the time, because Roncy was accompanied by several priests who were not weak, and the child himself was also very strong, so we thought, let him go, and see what he would do with it? ...”

"Is it ......?"

"Seventeen people, not one of them came back alive!"

"What?" said the old dean, puffing on his pipe and frowning, "Sixteen priests, plus that young man named Roncy?"

"Yes, not a single one survived!"

"If that's ......"

"That man, that Argus man has powers comparable to the level of a great magician!" Father Andrew sighed slightly, frowning and said in a deep voice, "This is what I realized after fighting him...... But his power is very strange, as if it is not his own power, in his body, there is a very terrifying existence, and the psychic magic I cast not only has no effect at all, but has caused damage to me......"

"What?" the old dean narrowed his eyes, his eyes gradually becoming solemn.

You know, Father Andrew is a great magician, and he is a priest of the Holy See who specializes in psychic magic, how unbelievable is that he can't use psychic magic to inflict damage on the terrible existence in that man's body?

"Well, it seems that some restless fellows have passed through the obstacles of the plane to reach this world......" The worried old dean asked with a frown, smoking his pipe, "Archdemon?"

"Hmm," Father Andrew nodded, echoing, "According to my guess, it may be a high-level Great Demon, I don't know too much about the specifics, but I'm sure that the fear in that man's body exists, not that you and I can deal with it alone, I've already suffered this loss, if it weren't for the fact that the man wasn't familiar with the power he just gained, maybe I wouldn't be able to stand here...... This man must not be taken lightly!"

"So what about the specifics, that young man from Longxi......"

"That's exactly what I want to say," said Father Andrew, who whispered with a little anger in his eyes, "I have been to that village since this tragedy, do you know what I saw?"

"What?"

"All the people in that village were killed, but that's not what I was trying to say...... When we reached the village, we found a huge magic circle painted with blood on the ground where the village was located, and in the center of the village, hundreds of corpses of villagers were piled up here......"

"This is?!" the old dean's eyes widened suddenly, and his hand shook and almost knocked over the teacup on the table.

"[Blood Sacrifice]! That man sacrificed hundreds of innocent villagers and traded them with some unknown demon! It is very likely that his powerful and strange dark power comes from this blood sacrifice!"

"Blood Sacrifice ......" the old dean gripped his pipe and sighed, while Professor Huo De, who was on the side, looked shocked, as if muttering something.

The so-called blood sacrifice is usually a means used by dark mages to trade with demons in another plane, calling the name of the demon with blood, in order to obtain a certain amount of power from the demon at the cost of sacrificing their soul and life, and if they sacrifice a lot of sacrifices, they can even make a contract with the demon to seek the demon's help.

And this way of making a contract is similar to summoning magic, and the one who helps the dark mage is not the demon's real body, but only a projection of subspace.

And since it is a projection, the power is naturally not too strong, due to the laws of the world, the projection is generally only the power of the demon Sancheng.

Of course, there are also demons who are not satisfied with living in the Yanhe River or the abyss, and take advantage of certain loopholes to come to this world from the subspace, which is the most dangerous thing.

Because the real body is different from the projection, the demon that has reached this world will gradually return to its original strength after a period of time, and you can imagine what will happen when a ferocious wolf breaks into the world of the sheep.

Based on the old dean's silence, Father Andrew continued, "That man's blood sacrifice, I think it is different from the [mirror text] that we know before, I have repeatedly studied the symbols and runes on that magic array, but unfortunately, this is not the same as the words I have always known, I am sure, it is not a demonic script, if it is, then it is an extremely high-level demon script......" said the old abbot to his assistant, Brother Yveves James, " Yves, take out that magic circle we burned!"

"Yes, Archbishop!" Brother James nodded, took a piece of parchment from his bosom, and handed it to the old abbot.

I saw the old dean take the monocle from the table, frown and open the parchment, carefully examine the magic array painted on the parchment, especially those strange symbols and runes, after a few minutes, he nodded and said, "Well, it is indeed different from what we know about the [mirror text]......" As he spoke, the old dean raised his head and asked hesitantly, "That Argus, how much do you know about him?"

"It's not a lot," said Father Andrew, shaking his head and frowning, "We don't know where the man was originally from, it seems that he was deliberately hidden, and as far as we know, there is no such thing as Cranfield, and there is no one named this in history, so we suspect that this is not his real name......"

"Hehe, it's not strange," the old dean said with a smile as he looked at the parchment, "as a dark mage, if he tells us his real name, then we don't have to have such a headache......

Indeed, as dark mages who are proficient in curse-like magic, they would never tell anyone their real name once they have been determined, not even their closest friends.

After all, dark mages are the kind of people who often deal with demons, often walk on the edge of darkness, and they know the horror of curses, and of course, their curses are not the simplified curses that Scott is now learning.

If you want to be more precise, the curse of the dark mage is actually ritual magic, which requires blood, magic arrays, candles and other props, and the process is also very complicated, but the power of this curse is not comparable to the ones that Scott has learned.

If a dark mage wants to kill someone, he doesn't have to kill his opponent through combat like other magicians, or even show his face, as long as they know the person's name, they can kill the other person through some kind of curse ritual, so the more powerful the dark mage, the more afraid he is to reveal his real name.

Of course, this curse is not absolute, if the opponent's mental resistance is too strong, then the result is that the dark mage who cast the curse is cursed and dies.

"Hehe, that's what I said!" Father Andrew nodded with a reluctant smile as he reached over for the cold tea on the coffee table.

The old dean naturally understood what Father Andrew meant, and turned to Professor Hodder and said, "Hodd, now you will tell us the truth about the man you met...... After speaking, he pointed to the teacup in Father Andrew's hand with his pipe, and incredibly, in a moment when the other party was stunned, the cup of tea that had become cold came out of the heat again.

"It's not cold, it's not hot, it's just right...... I haven't seen you for more than ten years, and your control is still so precise......" Father Andrew smiled and took a sip of the tea in his cup, then turned his head to look at Professor Hodd expectantly.

Glancing at Father Andrew, Professor Hodd hesitated for a moment, then finally spoke, "Actually, I don't know much about that man, I just happened to meet him, and I fought him ...... out of a misunderstanding," and he recounted in detail how he met Argus at the bottom of the mine.

After more than half an hour, Father Andrew let out a soft sigh and said with some doubt, "I feel sorry for what happened in that village...... But one thing that is hard to understand is why he went to that pit when he knew we were chasing after him, and what was in that pit?"

"How do I know this?" Professor Huo De said with a sneer, but then after hearing a few coughs from the old dean, he adjusted his tone and continued, "Specifically, I don't know very well, those two little ghosts seem to have something to hide from me......"

"Two little imps?" said Father Andrew, stunned as if he had thought of something, "Speaking of which, Brother Chesher seems to have met two little ones under that pit...... A little boy, a little girl......" he said, turning to the Holy Inquisitor, Brother Cheshe, "Is that so?

"Yes!" said Brother Cheshe, with a blank face, "in the course of redeeming the innocent villagers, we met the two children, the little boy ......," but before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by the old abbot.

I saw the old dean cough and knocked on his pipe, and said with a smile, "It's just two children, the problem now is with the man named Argus, how can it be involved with the children?"

"Heh," Father Andrew was stunned, looked straight at the old dean with a smile, and after looking at each other for a while, he suddenly smiled and said, "Maybe those children have also met that evil man, why don't you call that little boy here, let me ask, maybe there will be ......something new."

"Hehe, I don't think it's necessary," said the old dean, knocking on his pipe as usual, and refilling the tobacco, with a smile, "What do they remember, children? I remember when I was that old, I was playful, I didn't know anything, I didn't even know what magic was, and my mentor was very angry about it......"

"Even so, wouldn't he be proud if he was still alive?" said Father Andrew with a smile.

"No, no, no, he didn't praise me at all!" the old dean smiled slightly, shook his head and said, "Besides, those children just arrived at the academy today, and they may be tired along the way, so let them rest well......"

"Well...... Father Andrew looked down in thought, then suddenly raised his head and smiled and said, "Then let me go, is that okay?"

"Hmm?" Huo De looked surprised, he couldn't figure out what was going on, let alone him, in the whole room, except for the old abbot and the six holy magistrates who had always been expressionless, even Father Andrew's two assistant monks were extremely surprised by this.

You must know that this person in front of him is one of the twelve cardinal archbishops of the Holy See, whether it is in the empire or the Holy See, he is a pivotal and influential existence, but he actually said that he would ask a child in person, which ...... The whole room suddenly became silent, except for the sound of the old dean smoking his pipe...... I don't know what happened, Professor Hodd looked at the old dean, and then at Father Andrew, feeling inexplicable.

Little Boy ...... Isn't that his apprentice Soth?

Could it be that something else happened in it that I didn't know?

Just when Professor Hodd was suspicious, Father Andrew looked at the old dean and shook his head, and spoke with a smile.

"Gretel, you know, Roncy is the heir we have been cultivating for ten years......"

"Hmm," said the old dean, wrinkling his pipe, and in a tone of regret, "I am deeply sorry that this happened......

"......," said Father Andrew, shaking his head with a wry smile, staring into the old dean's eyes, "then you should know the purpose of my trip?"

"Well," said the old dean, scratching his forehead with his pipe, "for that Argus!

"And ......"

"What else? Is there anyone as wicked as Argus?"

"......," said Father Andrew, who opened his mouth wordlessly, shook his head weakly, "Although I said that I hit you with the Holy Light more than ten years ago, don't forget, it was you who pierced my right leg with a thorn of earth, and it is still not well...... Can't you just let me finish my sentence?"

Looking at Father Andrew, who was smiling, the old dean was smoking his pipe, waving his hand and saying, "Okay, you say!"

"That kid ......"

"Ah," said the old dean, interrupting Father Andrew again, with a little surprise, as if suddenly remembering something, "I forgot one thing, you said in your letter that you would like to take some children to compete with the students of our Riox Academy?"

"......," said Father Andrew, looking at the old dean in disbelief, "just to hide people's eyes, we found out that Argus is not alone, and there is a powerful dark organization behind him, so in order not to alarm them......"

"What? There is a powerful dark organization behind that man?" I saw that the old dean looked shocked and asked hurriedly, "What is the situation?"

"Don't you really know what the situation is?" said Father Andrew, shaking his head, curious, "who else but those who hide in the shadows of history?"

"Hmm, did those guys work with that man?" the old dean's eyes showed a bit of solemnity.

"Yes, yes, yes, so I don't want to alarm them, it's better to solve both problems at once......"

"Oh, see, so what you are talking about is the communication between students......"

"It's just an exchange, otherwise how can I explain to the outside world that I'm coming to you Reox?" although those guys don't necessarily believe it, but at least they have an excuse not to push them too much, so that nothing bad will happen...... Therefore, you don't have to take this competition and exchange between students too seriously, and I will ...... when I go back."

"How can this be done?" interrupting Father Andrew again, the old dean said with a sincere face, "This is the first academic exchange between you Salonia and our Reochs Academy in hundreds of years, this is a grand event of harmony between the two countries, how can you do it casually?" As he spoke, he turned to Professor Hodd and said, "Hold, you go and gather the professors of the academy, and we will discuss this matter later!"

"Yes, Dean!" Professor Hodd nodded, turning and walking out the door.

Looking at the back of Professor Hodd leaving, Father Andrew said angrily, "Gretel...... You ......"

"Oh, by the way," said the old dean, as if remembering something again, "you have come in a hurry in the morning, and we don't have time to prepare anything, and I have already had a lunch carefully prepared just now, and the time is about the same...... Let's go!"

Glancing at the smiling old dean, Father Andrew stood up helplessly and whispered, "What do you want to hide, Gretel?"

"Concealment?"

"Don't pretend to be garlic! I mean the little boy, Brother Cheshe, who told me that the little boy had absorbed the Light......"

"Absorb the Light? Do you think there is such a thing in the world? Even a miracle can't describe it, right?"

"This ......" Indeed, Father Andrew himself was skeptical, looked at the old dean suspiciously, and said in a low voice, "Then what did you just hide?"

"It's very simple!" the old dean smiled and said in a low voice, "Including your Pope's old immortal, don't I know what you think in your heart?" Hmph, you, just come honestly, give me back honestly, if you meet a few excellent apprentices on the way, you won't stop you if you want to take me away, but my students of Reox, no matter which one it is, don't make up your mind, they will be the future of Reox Academy in the future!"

"Hey, you, you......" Father Andrew shook his head wordlessly.

At the same time, on the second floor of the west tower of Ruiox, Jiang Zhe and others were in the new dormitory...... Allen, who had just finished taking a shower, wore his upper body, wiped his wet hair with a towel in one hand, and wielded the broad knight's sword habitually in the other, which was a practice he would do every day when he was free.

"Can't you just get dressed first?" said Scott, who had just tidied up his bedroom, and his face sank suddenly.

"Isn't it still wet......" With a bit of funny grievances, Alan said weakly.

"Then can't you dry it well before you come out?" Frowning, Scott pointed to Jiang Zhe, who was playing with a few fireballs on the sofa, and said angrily, "Do you want to let Soth dry it for you?"

"Hey," Alan said subconsciously as he held the knight's sword in front of him, pretending to be afraid, "let him bake me, let him bake me, like those breads, burnt!"

"Alan, why don't I feel comfortable listening to this?" Tilting his head to look at Alan, Jiang Zhe said angrily.

"Don't, don't praise you!" Alan winked his eyes in a funny way, put down his knight's sword, pulled his shirt from the sofa and put it on, pointed to the bathroom, "The water is still hot, who's next?"

"Soth, first, I'll tidy up the ......books in my box," said Scott, carrying his case to the long table, opening it to see a box full of books on magic.

"I?okay," Jiang Zhe snapped his fingers, causing all the fireballs to disappear, and then, he took off the magic robe he was wearing outside, and took off his gloves...... "I said man," Sitting on the chair next to the long table, Alan leaned on the back of the chair and looked at Jiang Zhe, then stretched out his hand, pointed to the back of his left hand, and said suspiciously, "Actually, I wanted to ask for a long time, what is this?"

Jiang Zhe subconsciously glanced at the magic array on the back of his left hand, and his expression seemed a little unnatural.

In fact, he just didn't know how to explain the origin of this magic array, but Scott would be wrong, and thought that his roommates had something unspeakable, so he frowned and whispered, "You guy is talking a lot of nonsense!" In fact, he found out very early, but this kind of thing is not easy to ask.

"It's not a big deal," Jiang Zhe shook his head and said with a wry smile, "This magic array, I don't know what to say...... Actually, I don't know how it ended up in my hands......"

"Hmm?" Seeing Jiang Zhe say this, Scott and Alan suddenly became interested, gathered around Jiang Zhe, and looked at the magic array.

Scott even copied the symbols and runes on the magic array with his hand, then shook his head and said, "No, I can't decipher the meaning of these symbols, but I seem to have seen ...... somewhere" As he spoke, he paced a few steps with his forehead in his hands, muttering something in his mouth, and suddenly, he turned around, pointed to the back of Jiang Zhe's left hand and said, "I remember, hexagram, that's the white magic of the Holy See!"

"White ...... White magic?" Looking at his two companions with puzzled eyes, Jiang Zhe himself was even more confused, and muttered, "The Holy See's magic array ...... How can it be on the back of my hand?"

"You don't know what you know, you ask us?" Alan shrugged in delight.

"Well, I'm not really sure......" Scott looked a little embarrassed, pushed his glasses and said, "If only someone who knows white magic could ask......"

"Yes......" Jiang Zhe nodded, then shook his head again and smiled bitterly, "But where is there anyone who knows white magic? You can't go to Salonia for this little thing, right? Anyway, I don't feel anything wrong, so be it......"

"You, you!"

"Well, it's really not worth running to Salonia for a magic circle of unknown origin...... Alright, Soth, you go take a shower first, and I'll sort out the magic book!"

"Hmm, okay!"

Who is it?

On the way to the bathroom, Jiang Zhe raised his left hand and looked at the magic array on the back of his hand, whenever he saw this magic array, he would ask himself this question that had existed in his heart for a long time.

What kind of magic circle is this? Is it harmful? Who carved this magic circle on the back of his hand, and why didn't he have the slightest effect?

Did you forget something, and if so, what did you forget?

Faintly, he felt a slight tingling in his head......

(To be continued)